


Second Chances

by Flowers_For_Flamingos



Category: That '70s Show
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, Time Travel, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2020-05-05
Packaged: 2020-10-01 19:35:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 14
Words: 29,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20381977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flowers_For_Flamingos/pseuds/Flowers_For_Flamingos
Summary: Hyde 's life has snowballed since Jackie's death. He moved back in with the Formans. Donna and Eric live far away, Fez was who the hell knows where, and Kelso....Hyde didn't think about Kelso. But one cold rainy night, while Hyde is drunk he causes an accident that sends him spiraling back in time to almost ten years ago, when everyone still liked each other. When Jackie was still alive.





	1. Expectations Aren't Reality

**Author's Note:**

> Ok so, I love time travel fics and I really love Jackie and Hyde. So why not put them together. I love writing from Hyde's point of view because he's such a complicated character who thinks but never says what he truly means. Sooooo excited to write this and I hope you guys enjoy.

Hyde always knew he'd end up in jail, he just never knew that instead of physical metal bars standing between him and freedom it'd be his own emotional cage he'd end up trapped in.

Then again, maybe he'd always been trapped. Maybe he was just realizing that he'd been caged all along, like the little blue bird story he used to tell Jackie. 

_Jackie._

Hyde took another swig from his glass. He was here to drown his memories of her, not conjure up long forgotten moments. 

He finished off his fourth? Fifth? And in a slurred voice asked the bar tender to fill it up again. But the man behind the counter, the new guy, shook his head. 

"Sorry, buddy," That's how Hyde knew he was new, apart from the fact that he had never seen him before. All the old bar tenders knew Hyde by name and also knew that he could easily drink his weight and then some. They wouldn't cut him off at five. "You better go home. Got someone to call?"

Hyde almost responded with "yes" but caught himself. No one could come and get him and even after four years the realization still shocked him. 

Mr. And Mrs. Forman were unavailable. For one, Mrs. Forman would be more disappointed in him than she already was, and Red....

His second heart attack had hit harder than his first. Most days he sat at home and kept to himself. He never yelled anymore and was ordered to not get behind a wheel. Mrs. Forman tried to stay positive, but Hyde could see her smile grow less and less genuine. 

Fez was gone, no one knew where he went after him and Jackie called it quits. There was a rumour that he had started his own salon in New York, but Hyde couldn't be sure.

Donna lived in California, far away from the horrors of Wisconsin. She'd left a bitter husk of the girl who once was. She'd went to live near her mother and last Hyde had heard from her, she had called him to tell him to go to hell. 

He wasn't speaking to Kelso, hadn't for a long time. 

Eric lived on the other side of the world. After coming home from Africa and trying for two years to place himself back in with his group, he gave up. 

He had told Hyde before he packed up to leave. "This doesn't even feel like my house anymore." He shoved some clothes into his suitcase. "I look around and everyone just moves around me like I don't exist. In Africa I helped people. I liked doing that and it made me feel like I was actually needed."

"Man, don't you think you're overreacting a bit?" Hyde picked up a shirt that had fallen to the floor. "I mean, so what if Donna doesn't want to hang with you that much anymore?"

"Hyde, you don't understand." Eric took several of his GI Joe's and chucked them into the trash bag by his bed. "You're always drunk somewhere, Kelso's in Chicago being a cop, Fez is who the hell knows where. I've only got Jackie."

"You're hanging out with Jackie?"

"I'll admit I misjudged her in the beginning, but I've grown to accept her. Besides, I can't exactly hang out with you." Eric tore down an old poster. "Are you even sober now?"

"Enough."

"My point, Hyde." Another poster torn down. "You're becoming a raging alcoholic!" 

"I'm not an alcoholic!" His grip tightened on the t-shirt bunched in his fist.

Eric opened up his closet, pulled out his stash of Star Wars action figures, and tossed them into the trash bag as well. 

"What the hell are you doing?" Hyde finally asked.

"I'm getting rid of my junk, that's what I'm doing."

"Why?"

"Because I've been living like a child my entire life. Maybe I should grow up for once." Eric snatched the t-shirt from Hyde's grip and shook it at him. "You should too. You can't live in the basement forever, drinking your life away because of a girl."

"You're full of shit, Forman. All you've done the past six years is pine for Donna. Now what, since you've thrown out your toys and your new best friend is the queen of the bitch—"

Suddenly he hit the floor, stars forming in his vision. His face tingled, but the slight buzz he had made the pain dull. Eric Forman had punched him.

"Don't call her that." He could hear Eric zip up his suitcase and turned to watch him head for the door. He turned at the threshold and glared as Hyde stood from the ground. Hyde didn't think he ever saw Eric that angry.

"You broke her, too, you know. His hand was clenched around the handle of his suitcase, nuckles turning white. "She never was the same after you, and now all you give her is the silent treatment. So, yeah, I stand by my word. _Grow up_."

And that was the last he saw of Eric Forman.

"Yo, dude?" The bar tender waved a hand in front of Hyde's face and he snapped back into the present. "Did you hear me? I asked if you had someone to drive you."

"I'll call a cab." Hyde grumbled. This guy had ruined Hyde's drunken stuper. He was going home. 

Hyde walked to the phone hanging in a corner of the bar, digging in his pocket for any change. He found none and decided to forget it and walk home. 

He opened the door and the cold fresh air hit him like a train. Inside was warm and the air was stong with the smell of smoke, Hyde wanted to turn around and head back in where time seemed to freeze. But he knew he wouldn't be getting any alcohol to help the world stop. So, he wrapped his coat further around him and huffed a steaming cloud of air that dissipated in seconds, and started his long, dark walk back to the Forman's. He wasn't able to drown the memories this night.

"I'm just the caged bird I tried so hard to not be, huh Jackie?" He asked the dark.


	2. Reliving the Past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a heads up, there is a scene at the end of this chapter that may or may not trigger anyone. I don't want to reveal it or anything, but if you aren't comfortable with that, just stop where the line is. There is also some violence and alcohol abuse mentioned so I'll post a chapter summary at the bottom in case anyone feels uncomfortable. 
> 
> Thanks for reading and hopefully I can stick to a updating schedule. I'm thinking Sundays and Thursdays.

There was a part of Hyde that blamed himself for the downfall of Jackie Burkheart. 

Scratch that, _all _of Hyde blamed himself for everything that happened to Jackie. He blamed himself for her death, because he could have stopped it.

1984 wasn't a great year for anyone. That February the Formans house was called to inform them that Eric was sick, likely wouldn't survive. He was at a hospital in Africa, and no one who loved him could get to him. 

Eric lived, but it was two years after the initial call that he finally phoned his parents to let them know he survived. He didn't talk to Hyde.

It was June of 1984 when Donna showed up at the Forman's, asking if Hyde knew about Jackie. 

"I called her this morning, no answer." Donna leaned against the Forman's sliding glass door. "She hasn't been the same since Fez took off over a month ago. You hear anything?" 

"Donna," Hyde tossed his knife, which he was using to put mayonnaise on his sandwich, into the sink. "Jackie hasn't talked to me in over a year, what makes you think _she'll_ talk to _me_ about her break-up?"

"I don't know!" Donna threw open the sliding door. "Maybe stop being an ass and call her?" 

"What makes you think she'll pick up? She didn't answer when you called."

"Call her!" Donna had left the door open when she left and Hyde shut it for her. 

He turned to face the opposite wall from the door. His gaze wandered from the living room entrance to the brightly colored phone hanging beside it. He started sweating.

He hadn't talked to Jackie, like actually talked to her, in longer than he would have liked. He never would have admitted it out loud but he liked hearing her voice everyday, no matter how bossy and annoying it got. 

He made it to the phone in five strides, his fingers dialing the number from memory. 

It rang once....

Twice...

"Hello?" A scratchy voice that sounded only slightly like Jackie's answered.

"You okay?" Hyde asked, skipping the formalities and cutting straight to the point. 

"Steven?" Jackie's voice was a whisper. "Is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me."

"C-can you come over?" Jackie's voice grew quieter, so much so that Hyde pushed the phone closer to his ear.

"Why?"

There was no response on the other line. 

"Jackie," Hyde grew worried. "Jackie! What's goin' on?" 

"Steven? That you?"

"Yeah, Jackie! What's going on?"

"M-my mom left for the Caribbean l-last week and s-so I have no one here and I drank a bunch f-from her liquor cabinet..." She trailed off, the only sound was her heavy breathing.

"Jacks?" Hyde's voice rose with fear. "Jackie keep talking, tell me what's going on?" 

"I-I was just so upset a-about you, and now I don't feel so good..." 

There was a loud crash on the other line and Hyde dropped the phone. 

He ran, grabbed the keys to his El Comino and sped to Jackie's house. 

He banged on her front door, but no one answered. Tried to Jimmy the door nob's lock, but the dead bolt was bolted too. He finally just climbed up to her window, but was too late. She was laying on the floor of her room, alcohol bottle spilling beside her.

Alcohol poisoning. That's what killed her. Simply because Hyde hadn't been fast enough. 

He had called everyone from the hospital, blubbering and sobbing into the phone. He didn't care who heard him. 

Everyone, at that point, was only the Forman's and Donna. Hyde hadn't bothered to call the rest of them. They were so far away. 

Donna ran in crying, tears streaming down her face and she was screaming hysterically. "Where is she?" 

Mr. and Mrs. Forman ran in after her and Hyde walked over slowly, dreading the next few words. Donna watched him approach. Her face was pale and puffy with tears. She clutched her jacket, fingers tangled in the fabric. 

"Where is she?" She demanded again. "Where's my best friend?" 

Hyde opened his mouth, but no sound came out. "I-I..."

"Steven..." Mrs. Forman started. He looked at her. She looked worried and sad, as if she already knew what he was going to say. She was reaching for him and he couldn't hold it back any more.

He shook his head, tears falling from his face and hitting the carpeted floor. "She-she..." He couldn't make himself say it. "I-I was too late, she-she's..."

A sob ripped through his throat and he practically collapsed into Mrs. Formans arms. She hugged him tight, rubbing soothing circles on his back. She didn't say anything, just supported. 

Donna, on the other hand, exploded. Her face was bright red, rage and grief equally the cause. "You killed her." She whispered it at first, but her voice grew louder as she repeated herself. "You killed her! YOU KILLED HER!"

"Donna." Red took ahold of her shoulder, prepared to draw her to his chest to comfort her, but she shoved him away. 

Hyde let go of Mrs. Forman just in time for Donna to get in his face. "You're a sick bastard! You messed her up so much, you made her you!" She shoved him and Hyde stumbled back, he didn't want to put up a fight right now. "You killed her because you couldn't get off your high and mighty ass!"

Another shove. 

Someone said her name, Hyde didn't know who.

"You're so full of bull shit!" Donna growled. "With your 'zen' and your silent brooding! Guess what Hyde, because you couldn't open up a smidgen of your tiny heart, you killed her!"

Another shove. Hyde still let her push him. He deserved it, didn't he? After all Donna was right, he killed her. 

"Donna," Hyde could make out Mrs. Forman's voice now.

"You ruined her life, you're a monster!" 

Another shove. Hyde hit the wall.

"Donna!"

"You deserve to die, not her!"

"DONNA!" Mrs. Forman was standing in front of her now. Her voice unusually harsh and demanding of attention. Her face stone cold, void of any feeling. "I think you should go home now."

Donna's face went from red to white instantly. "What?"

"You heard me. Leave."

Donna didn't argue. Maybe she realized she was making a scene or maybe she refused to fight Mrs. Forman. Whatever it was, Hyde was glad she was gone. He just collapsed into a seat and Mrs. Forman tucked him back into her embrace. Red stood in front of them. The quiet protector and the ever loving guardian, shielding the broken boy, who just became a bit more broken.

* * *

It had started to rain as he made his way down the slick sidewalks of downtown. He stumbled drunkenly, weaving between invisible obstructions.

Headlights from behind lit the path ahead of him. Then the car would pass, and he'd be plunged back into darkness. It was difficult for him to navigate, but he wasn't really in a rush to get home. So what if he got lost. So what if he ended up in a dumpster the next morning?

Hyde chuckled to himself. Ending up in a bumpster? Kelso would be proud. 

Except, Kelso would never know. He stopped talking to Hyde when he found out about Jackie. 

Mrs. Forman had called and told him. 

The next day, Kelso had shown up at the front door and beat the shit out of Hyde. 

There was always that voice in the back of Hyde's mind that would remind him Kelso was bigger than him. Kelso just never fight back.

Hyde didn't that time. He let Kelso nock him down until Red came in and threw Kelso out. Kelso spit on him before he slammed the door.

Yeah, he didn't really have friends anymore. But that was his fault, too. 

He really wasn't drunk enough for long, thought provoking walks home. 

The rain blurred his vision. It wasn't really rain any more, Hyde realized, but sleet. 

A cross walk's light flashed in front of him and Hyde couldn't remember if he needed to go strait or turn, he shrugged and turned onto the street. 

Suddenly, bright white lights were spoon him, the honking of a horn made him turn to see what was coming. There was screeching of tires on slick road. A sharp pain and multiple popping and cracking noises Hyde realized were coming from him.

And then all he saw was black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter summary:
> 
> Hyde relives the day that Jackie died. The events that occurred and his friends reactions.
> 
> The main points are:
> 
> Jackie is dead.
> 
> Eric was sick for two years and only called to tell his parents he was alive.
> 
> Donna blames Hyde for Jackie's death and screams at him till Kitty makes her leave.
> 
> Kelso didn't know Jackie had died until the following morning, after Kitty called to tell him. He came to the Forman's and caused a ruckus. Red kicked him out.
> 
> Hyde ultamatly steps out in traffic while he's drunk and that's where I leave off.


	3. You're Not Dreaming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter three is up and we're finally getting into it! Yay!
> 
> And I'd like to apologise, I'm terrible at chapter titles.
> 
> Everyone knows how wrong and mushed together the timeline of That 70's show is so, I've calculated some stuff below the chapter

Hyde shot up from his cot, breathing heavily. He was standing in the basement room he called his own. His blankets littered the floor. 

He stared down at his bare feet. His boots sat in the corner where he stored them regularly. He walked over to them, picked them up and examined them. They were the same pair of boots Jackie had bought him back in 1977, ten years ago. He had kept them as nice as he possibly could have, considering he wore them every day, but they were falling apart anyway. But looking at them now, Hyde couldn't find the hole where the sole was peeling away. 

Maybe he glued them last night and forgotten. Just like he forgot that he put on his sleeping attire, sweatpants and a tank top. 

Everything in his room was in proper order, except for one poster Hyde swore he tore down years ago. His body didn't hurt from any impact, car or otherwise. The only pain Hyde felt was the throbbing in his head. Confusion banged around inside his skull, knocking against whatlittle brain he had left. 

"What a nightmare." Hyde said to himself, dropping the boots and flopping back onto his cot. 

Hyde had nightmares before, plenty of them. But none had ever felt so real. He wished the entire '80's era was simply a bad dream like the one he just experienced. 

"Steven, breakfast is ready!" Mrs. Forman called. 

"Be right up, Mrs. F!" Hyde shouted back. He rubbed a hand through his curly hair and down his face. He needed a hair cut. He kept it short, trimmed neatly like Jackie always liked. It was growing long and tangled even though Hyde's last haircut wasn't long ago. 

He didn't bother changing into any clothes for today, he wasn't going anywhere. So he trudged up the steps without shoes or socks, signaling his arrival with the slapping noise his feet made as he walked. 

Mornings had a standard routine after Red's second heart attack. He couldn't keep his hands still enough to stick the utensils in his mouth, so Hyde helped him eat breakfast and Kitty helped him at lunch. They took turns at dinner.

It was a natural part of Hyde's life now, so when he walked into the kitchen and didn't see Red in his usual chair, staring off into nothing, he panicked a bit. 

"Good morning, Steven." Mrs. Forman handed him a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon. She frowned down at his clothes. "Why aren't you all dressed?"

She looked younger, a bit more energized than usual. A bit more meat on her bones. She hadn't been eating enough lately and Hyde was glad he didn't have to have a conversation about with her.

"Didn't want the food getting cold," Hyde lied. He wasn't telling Mrs. Forman that he had a horrible dream that left him feeling sick to his stomach. "Where's Red?"

"Oh, walked through here awhile ago with his tools claiming someone clogged the toilet."

"What?" 

"I suggest you hurry up, eat and change. Eric already left for school. Said something about Michael coming to pick you up on his way." 

"What!" Hyde couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Mrs. Forman, are you okay?"

She shone him a confused but genuine smile. Hyde hadn't seen her smile like that in a long time. "Why yes, Steven, I'm fine. Are you okay?" She placed a hand to his forehead. "You haven't touched your food and you look rather pale. No temperature, though."

Maybe it was dementia, didn't her grandmother have a problem with it or something? 

"Mrs. Forman." Hyde stood and grasped Mrs. Forman's arms. "Eric's not—"

A loud crash sounded down the hall. Someone shouted, "DAMN IT!" 

_Red _

Hyde shot down the hall to the bathroom to find Red glaring angrily at several things littering the floor around the toilet, rubbing the back of his head.

"Red! What happened! What were you thinking?"

Red squinted at Hyde. "What the hell do you mean 'what was I thinking?' I banged my head on this shelf while fixing the toilet one of you dumbasses probably clogged."

Hyde blinked once, twice. The image remained. Red Forman in all his glory. Fixing things and calling people dumbasses. It shouldn't be happening. 

"What the fuck!" 

* * *

Hyde had locked himself in his room. 

He refused to come out when Mrs. Forman came nocking. He definitely refused to come out when Red banged on the door. 

Mrs. Forman said she'd call him in sick from school, another reason for him to _not _come out of his room. 

If it was two or three years ago, Hyde would have chalked this up to a bad trip. But he had stopped hitting joints after Jackie's death. Her memory was all that would greet him through the smoke. So it had to be some alcoholic based hallucination, right? 

Or...

He really _had _been hit by that car and this was just his brain playing some sick trick on him in his last few moments of life. 

'Cause Red couldn't have gotten better in one night. 

And Hyde had graduated in '78. 

It couldn't be real. 

When the Forman's finally left the basement and all seemed to be quite, Hyde peeked out from behind the door. 

Nothing but silence greeted him. Hyde snuck out slowly, a part of him fearing Mrs. Forman would come running back down the stairs. Smiling happily and being trailed by a perfectly healthy Red. 

But no one came and Hyde flipped the TV on. The news was broadcasting the morning announcements, and Hyde's eyes grew more and more wide as each new story played across the screen. 

_How did Elvis die? _One said. _Could doctors be at fault?_

Another read. _Star Wars still the talk of the town, when might a sequel be released? _

"No," Hyde whispered. "No!" 

It couldn't be happening, just not possible. He was dreaming, dying, anything other than the nonsense that was circling around in his brain. 

But... the evidence of said nonsense was flashing on the screen. 

Hyde felt on the edge of panic, this was so much worse than some sick head injury. Still in bare feet, he raced up the stairs and threw open the kitchen door and was greeted by no one. 

And then he realized, at this time...at this _year_ Mrs. Forman would still be a nurse at the local hospital. 

"Oh good, Steven," Hyde's head whipped around to stare at Mrs. Forman, who was indeed in her nurse's uniform. "You're up, want something to eat before I head back to the hospital?"

"Mrs. Forman!" Hyde grasped her arms, which were very much real, canceling out his desperate hope that he was still dreaming. "Mrs. Forman, what year is it?" 

He really didn't need her to answer anymore. He knew deep down in his heart what was true, but he _needed _someone to confirm it.

Mrs. Forman blinked up at him, confusion apparent on her face. "Steven, you know perfectly well what year it is."

He shook his head. "Mrs. Forman, I need you to tell me. What year is it? What day? I need an exact date!" 

"Hunny, it's Friday, September 16th, 1977." 

** _1977._ **

_****_"What the fuck!" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone's interested:
> 
> Jackie Bags Hyde takes place on Vetran's Day.
> 
> In 1977 Vetran's Day officialy took place on the fourth Monday of October. 
> 
> To Old to Trick or Treat, Too Young to Die is a Holloween episode. 
> 
> But JBH takes place AFTER TOTTOT. 
> 
> Which doesn't work because Holloween is after Vetran's Day in 1977. 
> 
> So if you calculated Jackie and Hyde's date with the other episodes that I wanted to include in the story, September 16th worked the best. It is also a Friday, I checked ;).


	4. 1977 All Over

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter's so short, but I promise longer chapters hopefully in the near future. Starting stories off is difficult. 
> 
> Sorry if Hyde seemes OOC. But after everything he's gone through he's a bit more broken and isn't as aloof and zen as he once was. Also he's going to behave so much more differently with his friends now than back in the original series. I'm trying to keep him at his most Hyde but some things aren't going to seem like something he would do. 
> 
> Anyway-thanks for reading. Tell me if I messed something up, what you thought, or if you have any suggestions. :)

Hyde spent the rest of the day in the basement, which he realized hadn't changed in ten years, watching shows that hadn't been on TV since he was a teenager. His eyes stayed glued to the screen. 

Hours ticked by without him noticing untill the loud sound of stomping snapped him out of it.

"Guys hurry!" Kelso's whining voice grated on Hyde's ears. "Fantasy Island started five minutes ago!" 

"Whoa, Hyde..." Eric's voice now, directly behind him. "You look awful, man." 

Hyde didn't want to respond, he wanted to hide in his room and tell himself this wasn't real, that he wasn't being surrounded by the same people who hated him and blamed him for their lives turning to crap. 

Instead, Hyde responded in the way he used to respond to his friends comments. "Yeah, and you look as great as ever, Forman." 

"Ha, ha." Eric replied, perching on top of the couch. Donna wandered over to the record player, absently rifling through the records. Kelso dashed over to the TV and changed the channel, flopping down next to Forman on the couch. Fez moved to his own chair, glued to the screen already.

They all settled into silence, but inside Hyde was panicking. He hadn't thought of this. Of them being here, where they all still liked each other. Hyde wished he could enjoy it, but memories of Jackie were everywhere. 

She was alive here. 

He needed to find her, but he was terrified that maybe she wasn't here and maybe this was all still some sick trick. 

Because it wasn't possible, wasn't plausible, for time travel to exist.

But then she came in like a tornado, book in hand and a huge grin on her face. Suddenly, Hyde didn't think getting thrown back in time was such a bad thing, he was looking at her, actually _looking. _Not gazing at some photograph he had hidden in his sock drawer. She was here, in front of him. 

"Ok, you guys." She said, her grin broadening. "I just got an advanced copy of the year book! And, you'll be happy to know that 1977 is my cutest ye—_ohf_!"

Hyde leapt off his seat and slammed into Jackie. He wrapped his arms around her and buried his nose in her hair. She smelled like vanilla and cinnamon and _life. _She was warm to the touch, not cold and dying like the girl he couldn't save in the '80's. 

"You're alive," He said, tears trickled from his eyes and dampened her hair. "You're alive, you're alive, thank God!" 

He knew everyone was watching and didn't really care. She was here, Jackie was alive and maybe he really was back in the good old days. Maybe he did get a second chance. 

Jackie wrapped her arms around him, too. Gave a comforting squeeze and patted his back. "'Course I am, Steven. I'm right here." She didn't push him off, didn't ask him what was wrong or why he was acting so strange. She just accepted and Hyde was grateful. 

"Dude, are you okay?" Kelso asked. "What the hell are you doing hugging Jackie?"

"Shut up, Michael." Jackie growled. "Steven's obviously had some horrible nightmare where I don't exist, he knows how good you all have it."

"Yeah, yeah I do." Hyde whispered. "I'm so, so sorry." He never wanted to let go of her. Her egotistical comment didn't even faze him because she was right. Without her, life _was _a nightmare and the rest of them _didn't _know how good they had it.

She patted his back again. "It's okay, Steven.Wanna look at pictures of me cheering in the yearbook? 1977 is my cutest year ever."

"I for one totally think you were cuter this year." Kelso said, he yanked forcefully on Hyde's shirt. 

"Yeah, since I dumped you."

No one told Jackie how nice her burn was. Hyde slowly untangled himself from her arms but he gripped her hand. He couldn't let go of her for fear he might loose her again. Everyone except a fuming Kelso stared open mouthed at him.

"What the hell!" Eric's voice broke at the end of his sentence.

Jackie patted his chest, "We can go in your room so these losers, who don't want to look at my pictures, can't see. 

Hyde nodded but Kelso screamed "NO!"

"Shut up, Michael!" Jackie started to drag Hyde away.

"I would like to see." Fez yanked the book from Jackie's hands and began flipping through the yearbook. "Where are pictures of Fez?"

Jackie ripped the book back from Fez. "Sorry Fez, there aren't any." 

"Excuse me?" His voice lost all emotion but Jackie didn't stick around to hear the rest of his complaint. She dragged Hyde into his room and plopped down on his cot, continuing her search through the yearbook.

He wasn't touching her anymore and paranoia cut through him like a knife, chilling his bones. He was terrified she'd just disappear. 

"Look!" She patted the empty spot next to her. "Here I am cheering at the football game." 

Hyde sat next to her, not even bothering to tell her that Donna was mooning her picture. He wanted deaspratly to kiss her, tell her he missed her, but this wasn't his Jackie. The one he had so much history with. 

But he knew she liked him now, started her strange infatuation with him after Kelso and her broke up. He could start rebuilding their relationship into something better, something he wouldn't skrew up. 

Hyde watched Jackie flip though a few more pages, laughing at pictures of her friends. He smiled as he watched her. "Hey, here's you!" She showed him a picture of him at one of the only football games he had ever attended. Homecoming. Only going because everyone else made him. "Look, you're smiling."

Her grin got wider as she looked at it and Hyde felt the area behind his eyes grow hot and painful. He missed her so much. 

"This ones _so_ much better than your school picture." She said, flipping the page to his picture. "I like it when you smile. You look happy, at ease."

He couldn't take it anymore. He pulled the rest of himself onto his cot and wrapped his arm around her waist. His head resting on her lap and his fingers tangled in the hem of her shirt. 

"Steven," She spluttered, he glanced up at her noticing her cheeks were bright pink. "What are you doing?" 

"Just..." He couldn't really come up with a good explanation. '_I came from the future where you're dead because of my inability to commit. And I missed you and love you and just really need you to hug me' _wouldn't work.

So Hyde stuck with the simplest explanation he could give. His throat thick with unshed tears. "I just really need a hug right now." He said. 

"O-okay," Jackie whispered, she nervously ran a hand through his hair, combing the thick curls from his face. "Y-you wanna talk about it?"

Hyde shook his head and hugged her tighter. "No," he murmured. "I don't think anyone can help me with this one."

He was waiting for the typical Jackie response of "tell me, Steven," but she simply hummed a response, situating a bit before resuming her exploration of the yearbook, one hand still running through his hair.

* * *

Hyde woke with a start. It was dark and quite and for a minute he thought he dreamed Jackie was still alive, still here. Panic set in until a quiet mumble caught his attention. 

Jackie turned on his cot, the yearbook she had been looking at earlier hit the floor with a thump. 

It wasn't a dream, it was real and she was alive. He was back in 1977 and he promised himself he'd never let anything happen to her. 

"Love you, Jackie." Hyde whispered, careful not to wake her. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him. She wasn't going to disappeared, but he still couldn't get enough of her smell, her warmth, _her._ He wanted to kiss her, but he had to wait till the perfect moment. 

He was going to fix this, because he couldn't live without Jackie Burkheart, not again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've always seen Hyde as a very physically affectionate character, ESPECIALLY with Jackie. He has her sit on his lap, holds her hand, wrappes his arms around her. A part of me thinks it's because he never got any physical affection from his parents...
> 
> But that's sad, so ayway. Thanks for reading.


	5. Two Moons Over Point Place

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, new chapter alert. Hope you guys like it.
> 
> Like always leave comments, tell me if I messed up. Love hearing from you guys.

The next morning Hyde woke to a note taped to his arm. 

_Steven, _

_Got late so I went home, didn't want to wake you. _

_Jackie _

He smiled, noting how she dotted her i's with little hearts. He tucked the note under his pillow and started to change. 

He was downright _joyful _and he didn't know what to do with that. He couldn't remember a time when happiness flooded through his chest as it did so now. It was happening a lot lately, every time he remembered Jackie was alive. 

_Jackie was alive._

And there his heart went again. He seemed to float up the stairs and into the kitchen. 

"What is up with you?" Eric sat at his seat at the table, a strip of bacon lodged in his mouth. He stared at Hyde with disgust. "Why are you smiling?" He pointed his bacon at him. "Did you burn someone? Did you burn me?" 

Hyde's gut reaction was to stay as far away from Eric as possible, but 1977 Eric still liked Hyde; still thought of him as a friend. So instead Hyde shrugged and plopped down at the table, Mrs. Forman setting his plate in front of him. "No burn, Forman." 

"You're _smiling._"

"For God's sakes, Eric, leave Steven alone." Red flipped his paper down to reveal his face. Hyde's joyfulness increased with the sight of a healthy Red. 

"Okay, boys," Mrs. Forman sat down with them at the table. "I'm running to the store after breakfast, what do you need? 'Cause once I'm back' it'll be another week." She warned.

"Oh, deodorant!" Eric said snapping his fingers. 

"Okay, Steven?"

Hyde didn't have a clue if 1977 Hyde had run out of anything. He'd put on deodorant that morning, and there was plenty of that, but he didn't know if he needed anything else. 

"Shampoo." He said, better safe than sorry. 

"Good to know, and also." She paused to take a sip from her mug. "Your boss, Leo, called. Wanted to know if he was working today?" She frowned, obviously confused. "I told him you'd be over in a bit." 

Hyde remembered he'd worked at the Photo Hut, before Leo left unexpectedly. He grinned at the thought of seeing the old hippie again. He never knew what had happened to Leo in 1987, and he had missed him. 

"There it is again!" Eric pointed accusingly at him. "Stop that!" 

"Get bent, Forman." He stood from his chair, plate in hand. "I'll head on over, Mrs. Forman." He promised her. Setting his plate in the sink he wandered out to the driveway. 

He paused, realizing that he didn't own the El Comino in 1977. He'd have to walk, or convince Forman to give him a lift. Hyde wasn't quite ready to deal with that yet. 

So he walked. 

* * *

Hyde heard her talking before he even opened the door, and a grin lit up his face for the umpteenth time that day. 

He entered the hut, Jackie's head whipped around at the sound. "There he is, hi Steven!" 

"Hey, what are you doing here?" He asked her increadiously. He couldn't remember what had happened today ten years ago. But the memories were just beyond the edge of his vision.

"I think she's hittin' on me, man," Leo piped up and both Hyde and Jackie turned to look at him as he sorted through photos. "But I ain't interested. Tell 'er I ain't interested and make 'er go away."

Hyde frowned in Leo's direction as Jackie opened her mouth. "_Hitting on you?" _She placed a hand on her hip. "I am not hitting on you, you relic!" 

Leo looked up from his photos. "Hey, name calling is no way to win someone's heart." He said with absolute seriousness. 

"What are you talking about?"

"What are _you _talkin' about?" Leo mocked.

"What are _you _talking about!" 

"What are _you _talkin' about!" 

Jackie threw her hands up in the air in exasperation. "_What are you talking about!" _

Hyde snickered, knowing full well this could go on for hours if Leo kept it up. He reached over and grabbed Jackie's elbow, leading her out of the Photo Hut as Leo got in one last "What are _you _talkin' about?" 

"So," He asked as they slowly made their way down the street. "What'cha wanna do today?" 

Jackie's eyes lit up and a grin split her face. Hyde wanted nothing more than to kiss her, to make up for all the years he went without tasting her cherry chapstick. But he couldn't, not yet. 

"Really?" She asked excitedly, then frowned. "Ya know, I actually didn't plan past chase you down. I figured I'd be following you all day." 

Hyde chuckled. Maybe the old Hyde would do that, but not him. He knew better than to take Jackie for granted. 

She gasped excitedly, clutching at his sleeve. "You know what we should do? That thing in the basement where we all sit in a circle...."

Hyde grinned down at her. "You're becoming a regular ol' burn out, aren't ya?" 

Her face grew red, "No!" She insisted. "I just...no!" 

"Whatever, I'm lovin' it!" He grabbed hold of the hand she still had hooked on his sleeve and began dragging her along the side walk to the Forman's. 

* * *

Hyde hadn't had a joint in a very, very long time. So long that he coughed while inhaling the thick smoke. He passed it off to Jackie, who took her own drag. 

"You know," Donna says, taking her own puff, sitting and thinking a while before answering. "I don't care what Eric says. I liked showing my butt." She giggled as the effects of the drug worked through her system. 

Jackie giggled beside her, pausing to take a deep breath. "You said, "She giggled again. "Eric!" At that she let out another fit of laughter and Hyde couldn't help but chuckle along with her. 

"I did, I liked showing my butt." Donna insisted. "I like to show it and I like to shake it!" She wiggled a bit on her chair, a dopey grin upon her face. 

Laurie nodded beside her. "Yeah, just be careful or they'll call you a homewrecker." She took another drag at the community joint. "I mean, I can count the number of homes I've wrecked on _one _hand."

Jackie immediately stopped laughing. "I wouldn't call you a homewrecker, Laurie." She frowned, thinking of the correct word. "No, I'd call you a slut...._and_ a homewrecker." 

Donna stood from her chair, shaking her rear end while singing, "Shake, shake shake...shake shake shake..."

"Sit down!" Hyde informed her, the effects of the pot making him feel more comfortable with those he once called friends. 

He was starting to remember what had happened today. Eric had his panties in a twist about her mooning the camera. He saw both points of view, but he knew they eventually got over it. It wasn't a major problem. 

After awhile, when they came down from their high and Donna had left to find Eric, Hyde sat alone in the basement. Jackie had ran off with Donna and a part of Hyde really wanted to beg her to stay, but he couldn't do that. 

So he watched the TV without paying attention to the characters on the screen, lost in thought. 

He needed to figure out what happened today, if today was significant in any way. Why he got sent _here. _He reached over to the note pad sitting beside the phone and began writings the events that had already transpired. 

_Eric mad at Donna's butt_

_Jackie showed the yearbook_

_Came to Photo Hut _

_Infatuation_

_Circle with Jackie, Donna, and Laurie_

He paused. Thinking of what will eventually happen today.

_Eventually Eric will moon Donna and Bob will chase him._

But, he hadn't been there to see the mooning take place. Red had called him. 

No, _he _had called Red. 

Because he got arrested.

_For Jackie's bag! _

Because that was when Jackie told him that they would be more than friends. 

That was how he was going to fix this. How he was going to get Jackie back. He was going to get arrested.

Willfully...

What had happened to him?


	6. Repeated Recidivism

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that I didn't get this out Thursday. Had a really busy week and couldn't finish the chapter in time. But it's a longer chapter if that kind of makes up for it. Hope you guys like it. Like always leave comments, love hearing from you guys. :)

_You're a dumbass, you're a dumbass, you're a dumbass!_

Hyde sat quietly at one of the many tables at The Hub, glancing back and forth from his magazine to Kelso and Fez. They were playing Leo and another guy at foosball. 

They had begged him to go, and even though Hyde was still weary of his once good friends, he needed to go anyway. This was where it would go down after all.

"I'm gonna have to dip into my babysittin' money." Kelso thumbed through his wallet. He glanced up, looking at the men around him. Realizing what he said he cleared his throat, "Uh-I mean my _drag racing _money!" He slammed a twenty down on the edge of the table.

"Time to loose little white girls," Fez said.

Leo placed the ball onto the table and scored instantly. He chuckled, "Hey, I just remembered, man, I'm really good at this game." 

Hyde was a dumbass, but he took comfort in knowing that at least he wasn't a moron. 

He returned his attention to _Smokey and the Band-aid. _Hyde remembered reading it, but couldn't recall how it ended. It was a nice way to pass the time till Jackie showed up. He was pretty sure he was at the Hub when she wanted him to roller-disco. 

At that moment she came in, and Hyde couldn't keep himself from looking at her, he spent too long not.

"Ooo, Steven!" She said excitedly, plopping down in a chair across from him. "I am so glad you're here." She shot him a megawatt grin and he suddenly didn't want to go through with his plan.

"Uh..." He paused before clearing his throat. "Jackie, I'm right in the middle of _Smokey and the Band-aid, _okay?"

Her face fell and he instantly wanted to take back his words. "Okay, fine, but I signed us up for roller disco lessons at Skate World tonight. Class starts in half an hour so we better hustle." She grinned again and she leaned forward, amused with herself. "Get it? Hustle?" 

He smiled slightly, not wanting to reveal just how funny he found her little play on words. "Yeah, hilarious." He tried to put as much sarcasm into his voice as possible, but he didn't think it sounded very sarcastic at all. 

"Great! Let's go!" 

"Jackie," Hyde placed a hand on her arm before she could hop up. "I don't roller disco." 

"Okay, then we'll do whatever you want." She said, patting his wrist.

He couldn't, he couldn't make her upset again. Didn't want her mad at him, even for a few hours. What he wanted, no, what he _needed _was for her to stay with him. 

"Wanna ditch these clowns?" He asked her and her face lit back up again. 

"Definitely!" 

So without thinking, or very much caring, he switched his grip from her wrist to her hand and pulled her out the door. He needed to touch her, in anyway he could. He couldn't get enough of her being _alive. _

So he decided right then and there that it didn't matter if she loved him or not. The fact that she was breathing again was satisfactory enough for him. 

"So what are we gonna do?" She asked as he led her from the hub into the chilling night air. 

"You got your Dad's car?" He asked, glancing around the parking lot. He wanted some peaceful and quiet time with Jackie....well, time with Jackie. 

"Yeah," She held up the keys to the Lincoln. "Where we going?" 

"Surprise." He reached out for the keys and she reluctantly handed them to him. He knew where they were going, Mt. Hump. 

The drive there was quiet, much like the first time he took this trip with her. But this time, Hyde didn't enjoy it. He wanted to hear Jackie talk about how her hair looked, what her cheerleader friends did, garbage like that.

But she just gazed out the window as Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" played softly from the radio. She didn't even complain about the music.

So he cleared his throat. "You want something to eat?" He asked.

She shrugged. "Not really hungry, but we can stop there before we head to wherever we're going." She turned to him, a curious frown upon her face. "Where _are _we going?"

Hyde just grinned. This was what he wanted, Jackie being Jackie.

"Steven," She whined. "Come on, tell me where we're going." 

"Told ya," He pulled the car into Fatso Burger's drive through, already rolling down the window. "It's a surprise." 

"You don't do surprises." Jackie's voice grew sceptical.

"You're right, I don't." Hyde agreed.

"But, then—" 

"Welcome to Fatso Burger, how may I help you this evening?" 

Hyde leaned out the window and studied the screen. Fatso Burger had closed down in 1981, the McDonald's that came in across the street the cause of its failure. Hyde chalked it up to another government conspiracy. Fatso Burger was way better than that yellow arch's crap. 

"I'll take a plain cheeseburger and a medium coke." He turned to Jackie. "Sure you don't want anything, Doll?" 

He froze, he hadn't called her that in a very long time. He wasn't even really sure why he said it now. It just seemed natural.

Her face grew red and she shook her head, choking out a "No thanks." 

He whipped his head back out the window, trying to play it off casually. "That's it."

The guy read him his total and he pulled around, digging in his pocket for the right amount, mentally cursing himself. If he thought the silence was deafening before, it didn't compare to what if felt like now. 

Cheeseburger in bag and drink in hand, Hyde drove off. He turned up the music a bit, trying to end the silence that stretched between them. His fingers drummed on the steering wheel, his eyes shifting from the road to Jackie's face as she looked out the window.

She seemed to be having a mental conversation with herself. Mouth moving, but no words spewed from her lips. She'd frown, then tilt her head slightly, then resume moving her lips.

He got distracted easily, reminding himself that he was driving and couldn't look at her for longer than a second or two. 

He finally couldn't take it anymore. "You really wanna know where we're heading?" 

His voice seemed to shock her out of her daze and her gaze refocused on him. "Yeah..." She still didn't seem completely with him.

"It's kind of one of my favorite places." He told her, a street light flashed over Jackie's face. "Been for a really long time. I go there for the quite." 

He'd used to go with Jackie, spending summer days with picnics she forced him to attend.He secretly enjoyed them, but he'd never told her. He wished he had.

After Jackie died, Hyde visited it and chucked rocks and bottles and anything he could reach off the top of that cliff. Then he'd sit and stared into the distance. Silently listening to the wind in the trees as tears soaked his shirt.

He went there every other day after. Just for some quite, he felt closer to Jackie there then anywhere else. He couldn't feel her anywhere else. 

"Steven," Jackie touched his arm and he snapped out of his memories. This Jackie was still alive. He could tell her that he liked picnics and cuddles and all of the stuff he refused to admit he liked before. 

"My favorite place in the world." Hyde continued and he smiled at her, pulling off down a dirt path that slowly sloped upward. 

"Hey," Jackie said. "This is the way to Mt. Hump." She wrinkled her nose. "Such a shame."

"What is?" Hyde's heart started to beat faster, what if this Jackie hated Mt. Hump?

"The name," Jackie explained. "Mt. Hump. It had such a pretty view, the name ruins it."

He chuckled, relieved. "Yeah, it does. But I'm not going to Mt. Hump, Mt. Hump." 

She frowned, "What do you mean?" 

"It's not public property," He explained. "And it's kind of hidden. Hope daddy dearest doesn't mind some scratches on his car."

He turned off onto another path, this one narrower than the last. Trees hit the windows and scraped across the car. But it opened out quickly to a little open clearing near a cliff. 

He parked the car behind a patch of trees so it wouldn't be noticed. His hiding spot wasn't too close to the edge, he remembered Eric and Donna's accident all too well, the accident that hadn't even happened yet. 

It was strange to think about it that way. Hyde knew what was going to happen in the future, but couldn't tell anyone without them thinking he's a whack job. 

They sat side by side on the ledge, feet dangling over the side. Jackie took a deep breath, looking out at the twinkling stars. Her palms rested behind her as she leaned back on them, sighing contentedly. "I love this place."

"I thought you hated nature?" Hyde had asked this question every time they had visited this spot and usually, Jackie would shrug and change the subject.

This time, she actually gave an answer. "I don't hate nature, Steven." She wasn't facing him, but he could tell she was rolling her eyes. "Sometimes I just forget how beautiful it is, you know? Like you only focus on the gross, muddy little bugs, but it turns out that without them—" She gestured to the sky and trees spanning in front of them. "—the big, beautiful picture wouldn't exist.

"Daddy used to take me camping all the time when I was little. We'd have this rule, no outside help. He'd bring his nature guide and water bottle and that was it. We spent the whole night under the stars, he'd teach me camp songs....it was the reason I wanted to be a Girl Scout so badly."

Hyde had never heard this story and he assumed that it may have had something to do with her father. She didn't talk about her family after her father went to prison.

"You were a Girl Scout?" This was also new information she had neglected to tell him.

"No. Mom said a proper lady doesn't need to learn 'forest stuff.'" Jackie made air quotes around the words. "She made us stop camping after I asked." 

Her voice grew disappointed, tinged with a sadness Hyde understood. Good memories, no matter how good they are, can still have an effect on you. Jackie blamed herself for the end of a father-daughter tradition, that much was apparent. Hyde never really liked Pam, especially when she left her alone for all those months welhen her father was placed in jail. The fact that this was another Pam problem irritated him more.

"Besides," She shrugged. "Daddy works too much now. Wouldn't do it even if I wanted to."

"You don't want to?" 

Jackie shook her head, still not looking at him. Hyde, on the other hand, hadn't stopped looking at her. "No, I've kind of grown past the exploration of nature thing."

Hyde knew she was lying, lying to herself just as much as him, but he didn't call her out on it. He knew why she did it, because he'd done it many times himself. It's less disappointing when you tell yourself it didn't matter that much to you to begin with. 

So he just nodded, and offered her some of his drink. "That'd be fun,"

"What would?" She took the drink from him and stared at it like it was filled with majic before taking a tentative sip.

"Going camping with the gang." He glanced at her, unsure if she would get irritated at him or not. "Wouldn't be like what you and your old man used to do, but we could pack tents and stuff." 

She was grinning. "Yeah," She muttered. "Could be fun."

They fell back into silence, but this Hyde enjoyed. It was relaxing, and it reminded him of better days with Jackie, ones he could repeat. 

A small smile formed on his lips. Man he was smiling way too much, people would get suspicious, but Hyde couldn't help it. 

Suddenly, their peaceful night was bombarded by flashing lights and loud sirens, as a cop car wormed it's way back to them.

"Shit," Hyde jumped to his feet. "This has never happened before!" 

"W-what are we gonna do, Steven?" Jackie clutched at his jacket sleeve.

A cop with silver hair a thick mustache slammed his door and started his agonizingly slow walk to them. He was old, that much was obvious from the way he exited his vehicle. He held a flashlight in his hand and waved it in both Jackie and Hyde's eyes. "What are you two doing out here?" He called. "This is private property." 

"Hey," Jackie shielded her face from the bright light. "Can you _not _shine that directly in my face?" 

"I'd watch that tone, little lady." Mustache said. "He angled his head at the semi-hidden, car. "Who's car?" 

"It's my dad's." Jackie mumbled. 

The cop gestured for both of them to walk towards him. "You're both under arrest for trespassing."

Jackie backed up immediately. "No, no! I can't go to jail, I have to cheer tomorrow!" 

A sense of deja-vu hit Hyde like a train. "No, look, man." He placed himself between Jackie and the cop. "She had no idea where we were going. I didn't tell her this place was private property." He pulled the keys from his pocket and shook them. "I even drove us here, okay. It's not her fault. Don't arrest her."

The cop frowned. 

"Look," He gestured to Jackie, "Cheerleader," then placed a hand on his chest. "Dirt bag." 

Finally Mustache shrugged. "Okay, man." Hyde gave the keys to Jackie as the cop reached out, taking Hyde's offered wrist and walking him to the still flashing police car.

"Oh my God, Steven!" Jackie shouted. "As God is my witness I will wait for you, because now...I love you!" 

Mustache opened the door for him. "Is she serious?" He asked.

Hyde chuckled, "As a heart attack, man." 

Hyde looked out the window as the cop pulled out, Jackie watching them leave. This day wasn't what he planned, he still got arrested, and for such a dumbass reason, too. But he spent time with Jackie. So if this still could be some horrible nightmare and he woke up tomorrow dead...oh well. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed :)


	7. In the Slammer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry about the last two weeks and this update doesn't come close to fixing it.
> 
> I've been really busy with everything lately. Homecoming, Key Club, midterms, Cross country, senior year things, applying to college, and on and on. So I apologise again. Might get an update out, might not. Have a test tomorrow and Wednesday, and my Key Club is working in an civil war reenactment on Friday. May hang out with some friends Thursday, too. 
> 
> I most likely will not get anything out this week, but when things calm down I will definitely be posting much more frequently. I have not forgotten it and will be returning shortly.

Hyde watched as trees and houses came into view through the window. He wasn't registering their location, how close to the county jail house they actually were. 

"Couldn't find a _legal _spot to spend time with your girlfriend?" Mustache glanced at him through the rearview mirror.

"Aren't there more important laws being broken tonight?" Hyde fired back. "Man, how desperate are you for some action?" 

"I ask the questions here," Mustache's eyes narrowed. "And I'd watch that mouth, talking back ain't gonna get you very far." 

"Whatever." Hyde was slowly slipping back into zen, returning his gaze to the window. He wondered if Red would flip out as much as he did the last time. Who was he kidding, Red made a big deal out of anything and everything. 

Them arriving to the county jail house and the events that followed were blurry, the questions and the delousing ran together in an uncomfortable streem. 

When they finnaly gave Hyde change to call Red, he refocused. Even though he'd had far worse conversations with Red, he still wasn't ever prepared for Red's wrath. 

The phone rang once......twice......

"Hello?" Red sounded in a good mood, unnerving to hear through the phone even a second time.

"Hey, Red it's Hyde."

"Steven!" Red chuckled into the receiver. "Where have you been? You missed the funniest thing! Eric mooned Donna and Bob caught him doing it....he tried to get away—" Red laughed, the sound of him hitting his free hand against the counter beside him reaching Hyde's ears "—with his pants around his ankles!" Red cracked up again and Hyde offered a chuckle through the phone. 

"Uh huh, pants around the ankles." He agreed. "Listen, Red, I got into a situation. I've been arrested."

"Arrested?" Red's mood immediately shifted, his voice Stern and edging closer and closer to angry. "Arrested for what?"

"Trespassing."

"Trespassing where?" 

"You know that private property area on Mt. Hump?" 

"Son of a Bitch!" 

Hyde flinched as Red slammed the phone back into it's rightful position on the wall. Yep, just like last time.

* * *

Hyde slowly descended the back steps to the Forman's basement. He could hear the rest of his friends as they began their circle.

"Man, who'd a-thought, Hyde getting busted for trespassing? I mean, I'd always thought it'd be for armed robbery...or pimping. You know, something cool." Forman's voice drifted through the door and Hyde paused to listen.

Kelso giggled. "Yeah, Hyde in jail. Hey, you guys think he's anyone's girlfriend yet?"

"Kelso," Fez's voice scolded. "he's been in jail three hours, of course he's someone's girlfriend! He has very pretty eyes.

Hyde rolled his eyes, he'd had enough and he was coming through the door.

Forman was giggling as he doodled on a Etch-A-Sketch. He finished his work and turned it twards the circle with pride. "Well, if he _was _someone's girlfriend, I think it'd look a little somethin' like this." 

Hyde came around the backside of Forman and watched as Fez's eyes squinted at the picture. He made eye contact with Hyde and frowned at Forman. "You have done a horrible thing with a children's toy."

Hyde snatched the red toy from Forman's hands and assessed it from behind Forman's back. "Huh," he said, glancing down at Eric's stiff frame. "Bet you didn't want me to see this, did ya?" 

Forman swiped the Etch-A-Sketch back and shook it, erasing the picture. "Hey, Hyde, hey! Welcome back, man! I-I'm sorry."

"So," Fez shot Hyde a megawatt smile. "When do we meet your new fella?" 

Hyde glared across the circle at Fez. 

"Come on, Hyde, we're just jokin'." Kelso said. "Sit down, join us for a bit. Tell us about the slammer?" 

"No thanks." Hyde still didn't want to risk another Jackie induced high, Espeon since he hadn't seen her since the night before. "Got stuff to do."

The rest of the guys staired slack jaw at him. He just shrugged and wandered to his room. He needed a change of clothes. Spending all day and night in the same outfit made him feel grungy. 

He needed to find Jackie, needed to make sure she was okay. After all, he left her alone on Mt. Hump. 

"Dude, why they let you out?" Forman called.

"Probation." Hyde answered, coming out of his room, denim jacket under his arm. "I'm goin' to the Hub."

"Tell your fella we said 'hi'." Fez said, snickering.

"Get bent!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's so short, but thought I'd throw you guys a bone (or an update).
> 
> With Love ♥  
:)


	8. Guess Who!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I've been gone for so long gang. This semester has been rough. But I found the time to write some, so I figured I'd throw something out here.
> 
> Also I apologise, Jackie and Hyde are OOC here and it's mostly a filler chapter and I feel absolutely horrible for only giving you this after so long.
> 
> Hopefully you enjoy it anyway,
> 
> Thanks loves :)

Hyde sat at one of the many circular tables that littered the hub. He was nursing a root beer, mulling the last forty-eight hours over in his head. 

He wasn't quite sure what to do now. He hadn't thought much past 'get arrested' and he _really _wasn't looking forward to Red's crazy rant about his inability to be a grown-up. Sure, he missed Red the Hardass, but he hadn't missed when the hardassery was directed at him.

He most definitely was avoiding the basement. The people he once called friends would be down there daily now and he wasn't sure if he was okay with them yet. 

He knew they hadn't done anything to him, but Hyde still remembered, and everytime he looked at them their hatred for him burned freshly in his mind and heart. 

It was hard for Hyde to separate these friends from his 1987 friends. These friends hadn't done anything to him, likely never would do anything to him as long as he fixed this.

If he could fix this.

He still hadn't completely given up on the whole coma theory.

And the idea of time travel being an option made his brain hurt. If he _did _travel back, if that was an option, how did he do it? Did someone else send him back?

Man, he needed to get out of here, he was alone way too much for his own good. He should go find Jackie. He needed to know if she made it back to her house alright. But he didn't know where she would be. Hyde cursed his past self, his uncaring, idiotic, couldn't see how good he had it self.

The door rattled, alerting the whole Hub that someone had entered. The clicking of boots giving Hyde the notion that whoever had come in was, in fact, female.

Something cold covered his face, plunging his vision into darkness, and for one fleeting instant Hyde thought it was over. That it really had been some sick trick his brain played on him before it sputtered out. He'd never be able to fix Jackie, death was taking hold. 

And then a joyous giggle was emitted from behind him and _she _chirped excitedly "Guess who!" 

He grinned, relief flowing through him as he gripped her fingers over his eyes. "Well," He joked. "It's either Jackie or the cold, clammy hands of death." He had remembered saying that last time to her, but there had been no laughter in his voice then, now it practically oozed out of him. 

He reached around behind him, hooking a finger on her coat, and pulled her around the chair. She raised her hands from his eyes and let out a squeak when he pulled her easily into his lap, like he had been doing it forever, which he kind of had. 

"Well, Guess it's Jackie," The grin was still very evident on his face as he gazed into her wide eyes. "Damnit." She clearly wasn't prepared for a joyous reaction, and her shock made Hyde smile even more. Maybe she was expecting a stone cold Hyde. She knew how to handle that at least. Her wonderment made Hyde want to suprise her at every second of every day. 

They were nose to nose, his arm was wrapped around her waist and still hooked in her pocket, his other rested on her knees. 

"So," She hadn't said anything for several seconds and Hyde was starting to think that he broke her. "What were you going to say?" 

Her eyes fluttered, as though his words had brought her back to reality. "Oh! Um, w-when you told the cop that you were the o-one that took us up to that spot and not me...uhm..." She paused, as though she lost all train of thought before muttering, "My hero..... so romantic."

She trailed off, glancing back and forth from her position on his lap to his face, as if she still couldn't believe what was happening. 

Hyde chuckled. "Yeah, delousing's real romantic, huh?" 

He really wanted to kiss her, and the moment of panic he experienced less than five minutes ago hadn't helped with that instinct. He inched towards her and she watched him come closer, her lips parting as he drew nearer. 

"Hey, man!" Leo sat down in the seat next to them and Jackie ripped her head from his face, looking much like a deer caught in the headlights, with it's pants down. She didn't jump off of his lap, and Hyde assumed it was only because he still had his hand on her knees. Her cheeks were flushed a deep red, as if she somehow had been caught red handed. It made Hyde want to tell Leo to get lost.

Leo continued on as if he hadn't just interrupted something. "You missed your shift at the photohut, you better have a damn good excuse." 

"I got busted." Hyde explained.

"Damn, that's a good excuse!" Leo chuckled. "What'd they get you for?" 

Hyde paused, sure possession was lame, but trespassing was even more so. He figured Leo wouldn't care that much, but everyone else in this joint knew him, and his reputation. If they knew he got caught hopping fences, he'd be a laughing stock.

He glanced around the Hub, gauging how close the other inhabitants were. "Hopping fences." 

Leo looked at him confused, as if he hadn't any idea what Hyde was talking about. 

Hyde sighed in exasperation, leaning closer to leo over the table while making sure he wasn't squashing Jackie, he whispered again. "I got caught trespassing, man." 

"Whoa, man." Leo nodded, finally understanding. "Last time I got caught doin' that was..." He trailed off, stairing into space and Hyde thought he was done with the conversation, until he focused his eyes back on him. "Never." He finished, giving a short chuckle to Hyde's poor fortune. 

"Yeah, thanks Leo." Hyde took another swig from his bottle. 

"Hey, no problem, man." Leo stood. "But, I gotta go, my dog's getting antsy." With that, he left and Jackie and Hyde watched him as he walked out the door. After so long without the old stoner, Hyde had forgotten just how random Leo truly was.

"Sorry, you got arrested for something so lame." Jackie patted his shoulder, all suprise had melted away with the arrival of Leo. 

He shrugged, "No big deal, arrested is arrested." He was itching to make her look at him the way she had been earlier, astonishment and excitement rolled up together. He wanted that more than anything.

"So, whatcha wanna do today?" He asked, rubbing her leg to get her attention, she was still stairing at the door, and Leo had left long ago. 

"Hmm, what?" Jackie's focus snapped to his hand on her knee and then to his face, stairing with awe into his eyes. "Your eyes are really blue. Where are your sunglasses?" 

Hyde had forgotten about his glasses, the ones he usually wore to block out the world, because his eyes were the only thing he couldn't make look distant and unconcerned. He had stopped wearing them because of Jackie, he had stopped doing a lot of things because of Jackie.

She had hated it when he wore them, especially if he wore them inside. "They hide how pretty your eyes are, Puddin'," She had told him once, after she had pulled them off his face before sitting down at a restaurant. He had made a grab for them and she had hidden them in her purse. "Plus, you look more like my boyfriend and less like my body guard without them." 

He had made some joke about her liking the idea of a body guard and she had poked him and said if she did have one he'd never be able to get near her. 

He shrugged as nonchalantly as he could. "Lost them, don't really care." They were probably sitting on the top of his dresser, but Hyde couldn't care less.

Jackie frowned, as if he answered incorrectly on a question in the "How Well do You Know Steven Hyde" show and had lost them the game. "You _lost _them? And you don't care?" 

He wasn't going for that kind of astonishment. She was looking at him like he wasn't himself. 

_Because you aren't, you moron! _Hyde chided himself. 

Hyde hadn't been thinking, this Steven Hyde was an asshole and proud of it. He blocked people out, never talked about his feelings and never, ever went anywhere without his Ray Bans.

He shrugged again. "Yep, trying to...uhm...you know, keep my eyes from getting bad." 

It was a lame excuse, but Jackie seemed to buy it. "Oh thank God, because glasses are _such _a fashion no!" She gestured to his face, "See, your eyes are really, really, blue. Regular glasses would make them all distorted and your hideous sunglasses hide how pretty your eyes are." 

He really wanted to kiss her, if anything just for saying that.

He wondered if kissing her now, instead of at the Forman's barbeque would change her reaction to the kiss. 

But they were around too many people, people who would tell Kelso, who was a problem in 1977. He was going to wait, but he wasn't sure if he could for much longer.

"Whatcha wanna do today?" He asked again, leaning just close enough to touch noses. He wasn't going to kiss her, but he'd be damned if he didn't touch her. 

"W-we could hangout in the basement?" Jackie stuttered. He could feel her breath on his face, it smelled of peppermints and chocolate.

Hyde shook his head, "Nah, too many people. And going home means Red putting a foot up my ass." 

"You just want to hang with me?" Jackie asked. 

"Yeah, why?" Hyde questioned, smirk on his face. "You got someplace to be?" 

Jackie swallowed hard and shook her head. He knew he was most likely freaking her out, but it had to be in a good way, right? She wasn't running away screaming. 

"We could go see a movie?" She suggested.

"I'm not seeing some mushy, girly chic-flik, Jackie." 

"No, no, I'm talking about that _Guts_ movie that came out yesterday, you wanna go see that? I've been trying to get Donna to go with me, but she says she doesn't want to have nightmares for a month after."

Hyde had seen it with everyone when it came out. He knew Jackie liked horror movies, liked making fun of them even more than watching them. 

"Sounds like a plan, Doll." 

There he went and did again. Calling her the nickname he used when they dated. He played it off naturally again. Helping her off his lap, he grabbed her hand and led her out the door. She was staring at their intertwined fingers, as if the she was dreaming. 

"Did you drive?" He asked her, searching the parking lot for her car.

"Uhh, no I walked here, sorry." 

"S'ok, we'll just walk there." And with that he started walking again, pulling her closer to him." 

"What's up, you're being really quiet?" He said, a knowing smirk on his face. 

"Nothing." Her voice sounded slightly defensive as she glanced down at their hands, still intertwined. "So, what did that cop do after you guys left?"

"Well, " Hyde mused. "He told me to mind my manners a few times. Um, I asked him if he was having a slow night because why get so crazy about trespassing? He told me to shut it." 

Jackie giggled. "Sounds like a real jackass. Sorry, you got in trouble." She had begun swinging their arms back and forth playfully as they walked. 

"Not your fault I wasn't paying attention." 

"He was so old, I thought he was going to fall dead just standing there yelling at us." 

"I don't think he could see all that well, either." Hyde held a hand up as if resting it on a steering wheel, jerking suddenly one way or another as the walked, he bumped into Jackie and she giggled. "I was scared we'd hit something and he'd say I tried to hijack his vehicle." 

She laughed again. "He scared me pulling out of that clearing, 'bout hit a tree."

They both sighed after their fit of giggles and peaceful silence fell over them. 

The theater was drawing nearer. "You know this movies going to be lame right?" He asked her. 

"Oh, I'm counting on it."

"You wanna play a game?" 

"What game?"

It was one him and Jackie would play with movies like this.

"Yeah, okay, so we each have a bucket of popcorn and every time something lame or corny happens we have to throw a piece up and catch it in our mouths. At the end of the movie, the person with the least amount of popcorn on the ground wins." 

"Sounds simple enough." Jackie shrugged.

"So, are you up for the challenge?" He pulled on her arm, making her shoulders and head shake and she laughed. Man, he couldn't get enough of her laughing."

"Oh, it's on!" She promised, her voice rattling as he shook her. Jackie Berkheart didn't back down from a challenge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, sorry this is months late, but I should be a blessing to get more chapters out the next few weeks because I'm on break. 
> 
> Thanks, guys. :)


	9. What Matters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sooooo sorry to make you guys wait, but I made this chapter really long for you guys. 
> 
> I have no excuses, shame on me. 
> 
> But here you go! Enjoy! 
> 
> Thanks for reading, babes

The movie was just as lame the second time around.

Hyde found the blood and guts to look even more fake after ten years of improved Hollywood magic. 

Jackie had won their popcorn game. Hyde hadn't tried very hard anyway. He honestly couldn't help it. When Jackie and him had broken up, he thought that he would never be able to do stuff like this with her again. Now, here they were, tossing popcorn at each other in the back of the theater.

"That's cheating!" Jackie whispered as he threw a handful of popcorn into her lap.

He stuck his tongue out at her and she stuck hers right back at him. 

This was something he never thought he'd feel again. 

It was growing dark by the time the movie had ended, and coming out of the theater shocked Hyde back into the reality of it all. 

Red was going to kill him. 

He had forgotten there was fear like this. Not of mortal danger, but of a major ass whooping and a stern talking to. He had to admit, he missed it a bit. 

But a darkening sky also meant that Jackie had to go home, and Hyde had to go home.

And Hyde was afraid of what might happen without her next to him. 

The ever present notion that the next time he closes his eyes might be the last he ever sees her.

He'd never get to kiss her again, take her on another walk, snuggle into her as she softly read to him from whatever book she happened to have. 

He'd never see her _alive _again. It made him want to keep his eyes open at all times, he was too scared to blink for fear she might evaporate into thin air.

He didn't think he could survive loosing her again.

And then there was the nightmares. 

When Hyde was younger, well, the age he was currently reliving, his nightmares were more about his parental situation. First, it was about Edna's abuse, the abuse of her weekly boy toys, and so on. 

After moving in with the Forman's, his regular nightmare mixed with a new one. This one, the Forman's always hated him and left him on the side of the road. They had finally gotten sick of him, had seen how much of a screw up he was, and had gotten rid of him before they had to bail him out of jail.

Then, when Jackie came along, so did a third nightmare. The nightmare that he would do exactly what his ma did to him, and what her mom did to her. 

Abuse, degrade, destroy her soul. 

But that one hadn't become the worst nightmare he had ever had. After Jackie's death, he would relive the moment of climbing through her window and arriving too late. Her broken body on the floor, and not being able to do anything. He would dream it almost as if he were there again. He _had _destroyed her soul.

The actual nightmare would last only a few minutes. But he could never fall back asleep. 

He was afraid to go home because of what might happen when he closes his eyes.

He had only been here one night and she had been there when he had fallen asleep. What was he going to do? 

"Steven, are you listening?" Jackie's voice shocked him back into reality. His eyes refocused on Jackie's face, etched with concern and mild annoyance.

"You okay?" She asked

He shook his head, clearing his mind of fog. "Sorry, yeah, I was just....." He trailed off, unable to save himself. He hadn't been listing in and had no idea what she had just said. 

"I asked if we were heading to the basement now? My parents are at some stupid fundraiser thing and I owe it to you to sit through Mr. Forman's lecture. Besides, we could hangout for a while." 

God, he loved her. 

He couldn't even begin to say something that wouldn't get him sent to the Looney bin. If he told her how much he loved her at that very moment, all because she suggested a chill evening in the basement after a rant from Red, she'd have him committed. 

Also, 1977 Hyde didn't tell anyone he loved them. 

If he could beat his own ass he would. 

"Yeah, we can head home." He opened the side door, allowing Jackie to walk out ahead of him. "But, you don't have to listen to Red." 

_Damnit, _Hyde chided himself. _1977 you wouldn't have referred to home as "home," you would have just called it the Forman's. Be better at this!_

"Nonsense, gotta stand by my hero." She patted him on the shoulder, hefted her purse, and started the walk back to his house.

The icy wind tore through Hyde's coat, ruffling his scraggly hair, but he didn't feel it. Inside his chest warmth spread throughout every part of him. He couldn't help but watch Jackie skip, in general Jackie fashion, down the sidewalk with a goofy grin plastered on his face. 

* * *

Red was waiting for him when he walked into the kitchen, Jackie trailing behind him. He glanced at Mrs. Forman, who sat at the kitchen table wringing her hands and stairing at Red as if begging him not to kill Hyde. 

"Where have you been?" Red growled menacingly. 

Hyde needed to calm him down. _What _had he been thinking riling Red up like this. The more upset he got, the higher the blood pressure, the more likely...

Red noticed the fear that momentarily danced over Hyde's face. "Ah, so you have at least _some _sense." 

Red had misunderstood, but if Hyde explained he would most likely get yelled at more. 

"We're," Mrs. Forman spoke softly and with faked cheerfulness from her seat at the table. "We-we're just so glad you're safe." She gave a nervous laugh and flashed him a wide faux grin.

Red stepped closer to Hyde, pointing an accusing finger at his chest. "Do you have any idea what you were thinking? Why the hell would you—" 

"Mr. Forman," Jackie wormed her way in front of Hyde, planting herself in what little space was left between the two men. "It was my fault we got caught trespassing, not Steven's. I asked if we could drive back there. I told him my father owned it." 

Red's face immediately returned to it's regular color. "I see." He cleared his throat. "Well Miss Berkheart, I hope you learned your lesson. You may go." 

Jackie and Hyde glanced at each other before starting their causious route towards the basement. 

"Oh," Red turned to face Hyde, "Steven, you do anything like this again, you're gone." 

"Ohhh!" Mrs. Forman finally shot up from her place at the table and ran in between the two boys, reaching up to fix the collar or Hyde's shirt. "And we love and treasure you." 

"Love you, too, Mrs. F." Hyde gave her a firm hug before he slipped away, Jackie running after him. 

He heard her emit a sob and exclaime. "You hear that, Red? Tell me I wasn't dreaming!" 

It was almost enough to make Hyde turn back around. To wrap her in a real hug and, if possible, force Red into it too. 

"Why'd you stop?" Jackie asked. 

Hyde shook his head, climbing down the stairs he suddenly realized that Jackie and him would not be spending time alone down in the basement. 

"Hyde!" Eric jumped up from his position, perched on top of the ratty couch. "Man, have you spoken to Red yet? Did he scream?" 

"Um..." Hyde glanced around at the rest of the group, who were anxiously awaiting his reply. "Na, man. Not much. Actually he was pretty cool about it."

"_Pretry cool about it?" _Kelso came around the couch, standing in front of Hyde. 

Hyde fought to keep himself from tensing up.

"Hyde, we're talking about Red here." Kelso waved his arms around, exaggerating his point. "Red's not cool with anything." 

"I don't know what to tell ya, man." Hyde backed away from Kelso, moving to sit on his chair. The one constant he had in this crazy world. 

Jackie followed Hyde, standing behind his chair, giving Michael the stink eye. Hyde wanted to pull her on his lap and hold her tight for a while. But everyone was here, and no one would be okay with it. 

He had forgotten what that transition had felt like. That summer him and Jackie had gotten together. How hard it was for everyone to come to terms with it, how hard it was for _him _to come to terms with it. 

Man, he was such a jackass! 

"Hyde!" Donna waved a hand in front of his face. "You listing?" 

He glanced at her, realizing that he hadn't been paying any attention. "Huh?" 

"How'd you get Red to lay off you?" She asked him as if she had asked him three times before, slow and dilibrate, which he figured she had, given how little he was listening. 

He hiked a thumb behind him at Jackie, who had sat herself on top of the freezer. "Jacks bailed me out." 

Someone grunted in suprise, but other than that everyone remained silent. Hyde finally removed his eyes from the TV and glanced around the room. "What?" 

Everyone was looking at him with that strange look again. The look that told him he went and did something that 1977 Hyde would never be caught dead doing. 

"Jacks?" Donna repeated.

Damn. 

Hyde shrugged, leaning back onto his chair, trying to play it off. "Yeah? What about 'er?" 

Everyone made eye contact with each other, then looked back at him. He couldn't take it anymore. 

"I'm making a sandwich." Hyde grumbled, standing from his chair and moving towards the stairs. "You guys better be cool when I get back." 

"Oh, get me a pop!" Jackie called after him as he climbed. 

Hyde had a fleeting moment of panic as he rounded the corner in the kitchen. Maybe Red was still sitting at the table, sipping a beer. Without Jackie to protect him he was sure he was going to get the ass whooping he deserved. 

Or maybe, instead of Red, Mrs. Forman was dancing around the kitchen ready to wrap Hyde in a tight hug and wheep over what a good boy he was. No matter how much Hyde wanted one of Mrs. Forman's hugs, he was afraid that this time he might just break down. 

No one was there when Hyde appeared though and he breathed a sigh of relief. His stomach growled as he pulled open the fridge and peered inside. He hadn't eaten anything all day, other than a few piece of popcorn. The rest of the bucket he and Jackie had shared was all over the floor of the theater. 

He pulled out random things to layer on some slices of bread; mayonnaise, a tomato, some lettuce, ham.

"Ooo, bacon!" Hyde exclaimed, reaching out to snag the package at the back of the fridge. 

"What the hell is up with you?"

Hyde jumped, slamming his head and upper back on the ceiling of the fridge. "Ow!" 

He backed out, carrying his ingredients with him. Glaring at Donna, he set everything down on the counter and grabbed the bag of bread. "What do you mean?" 

"I _mean _with Jackie." She followed, close behind him as he maneuvered around the kitchen."First, you started being nice to her, then you went on a _date _with her, now your calling her cute nicknames? Did something possess you?" 

"Donna, man, what does it matter? So I'm being nice to her." He walked to a drawer, her right on his heels, and pulled out a knife. "She needs someone to be nice to her, her parents don't ever care." She followed him as he moved back to his sandwich. "We didn't go on a date. Besides, what date ends with the guy being arrested?" Hyde pointed the knife, now covered with mayonnaise, at her. 

"What about the nicknames?" 

"What can I say, Donna, I'm lazy." Hyde was slowly starting to get annoyed. Why did Donna ask so many questions?

Donna crossed her arms. "I don't believe you." 

Hyde threw the knife in the sink. "Man, why does it matter so much? So what if I like her? So what if I'm nice to her? Why the _hell_ does it matter so much?" 

"Kelso—" Donna started. 

"Kelso my ass. He's done nothing but hurt her. So what if I hang out with Jackie, so what, Donna? It's Kelso's damn fault she left him in the first place. So don't Kelso me. He can get over it!" 

He stormed off, down to the basement. He was getting Jackie and they were leaving. He wasn't sure where. Maybe they could hang at the photo hut till she had to go home. Anywhere but here. 

Everyone was watching the TV when he came down. Jackie, who had moved herself to his chair while he was gone, turned her head at the sound of his feet on the steps. "Hey, did you get my...." 

She trailed off, seeing the expression on his face. "What—"

"Grab your coat we're leaving." Hyde pulled at her hand, she easily stood up with him. 

"Where you going?" Fez, who much have showed up while Hyde was upstairs, asked. 

"Taking Jackie home." Hyde all but snarled at him before ushering Jackie out the back door. He slammed it behind them. 

"Didn't you say you were making a sandwich?" Jackie asked, confused as she followed him down the street. 

"Lost my appetite." Hyde grumbled. 

He pulled his coat closer around him, glaring back at the Forman's house. 


	10. Chasing Rain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry I haven’t posted in a long long time. I’ve been kind of in a funk, had writers block for a while. But I finally got the ball rolling again. Hopefully I can do better at getting more chapters out. 
> 
> Thanks for the patience guys. Love all of you :)

It had started to rain.

Not heavily enough to soak through their clothes, but enough to annoy them as they speedily walked down the sidewalk.

"Ugh! My hair is getting all puffy!" Jackie ran a hand over the top of her head, trying to wipe the water from her hair.

Hyde smiled slightly as he walked behind her. “The Hub’s just a couple blocks from here. We can chill there till the rain stops. Then I’ll take ya home.”

She glanced at him over her shoulder. “Yeah, okay. I’m hungry anyway.”

Hyde’s stomach gave a growl in agreement.

“Hey,” Jackie paused on the sidewalk, turning to face Hyde as he caught up. “What happened with you and Donna upstairs?”

“Nothing,” Hyde shook his head, small droplets of water flew from his hair. “We just talked. I just thought you should probably get home.”

“Steven,” Jackie placed a hand on his shoulder. “You’ve been acting so weird around her, around everyone, what happened? They’re your best friends, your family...”

Hyde grimaced at the thought. Once they were his friends, his family. They hadn’t been that for a long time in his eyes, but in everyone else’s they still were. Hyde was starting to wonder if he would ever see them as they once were, but he doubted he could.

Jackie noticed his frown, she trailed off and Hyde wondered if she thought he had gotten mad at her. He wanted to tell her he hadn’t, but the words stuck in his throat.

“Come on, you’ll freeze in that cheep coat of yours.” Jackie turned on her heels and started walking briskly again. Hyde sighed as he followed, he couldn’t even redo his life correctly.

There was only a few people at the Hub that late at night, giving Hyde and Jackie free pick of the seats. They chose a small table in the corner, figuring there wasn’t any need for their regular booth with only the two of them.

“Alright, what do you want?” Jackie asked as she stood from her chair, pulling out her wallet. “And don’t say nothing, I heard your stomach on the way here.”

“Jackie I can’t let ya pay for my food, man.” Hyde made for his pocket, but Jackie waved her hand at him, making a face that wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“No, you bought the movie tickets and popcorn earlier, I’m buying dinner. Besides, I haven’t spent money all day.” She shot him a big grin as she turned away and Hyde couldn’t help but smile back.

Hyde watched her sway to the music playing over the speakers as she waited for their food, and he wondered why he had never tried to get to know Jackie before they ever got together.

This Jackie, 1977 Jackie, who hadn’t been destroyed by Kelso quite so many times, who hadn’t had to deal with her father’s horrible scandal, who hadn’t been put down by her mother quite so often, who hadn’t lost her home. This Jackie still cared about silly stuff, cheerleading and what she would wear tomorrow. This Jackie still didn’t care so much about what people thought of her, where she stood on the bitchy scale, what boyfriend she had.

Sure she was still conceded and bit of a brat, but she had her own reasons for being like that. She at least still had some light in her, before she was so worried about never being loved.

He had finally understood why she was so desperate to get married. She thought that it would solve problems, keep the man from leaving. Because even after everything her parents did to each other, at least they were still married, and acted put together and gave the appearance of being okay. They stayed together until her father got arrested. She was hoping that getting married to Kelso would keep him from leaving her for another woman, and marrying Hyde would keep him from disappearing like every other person has on her.

He had realized that too late. But he had a second chance, he could fix this, prove to her that he wasn’t ever going to leave her.

“What’cha thinkin’ about?” Jackie had arrived with the food and Hyde blinked himself out of his daze.

“That I am so incredibly hungry.” Hyde grabbed a fry and shoved it into him mouth before sliding his basket and drink in front of him.

“Well, that’s good to hear.” Jackie took a sip from her cup, “You want to talk about what happened with Donna?”

“Not really.”

“O–kay.”

“Sorry,” Hyde sighed. “I just...I’ll tell you eventually, just not right now.”

“Oooh, that bad, huh? You really need to get better at talking to girls.”

“It wasn’t anything like that.”

“It better not be.” Jackie pointed a fry at him and Hyde couldn’t help but smirk. Jackie’s face turned pink. “C-cause her and Eric are actually together is what I meant.”

“Sure.” Hyde threw a fry at her and she quickly retaliated.

* * *

The Hub had finally closed for the night by the time they had realized that it had stopped raining. Hyde wasn’t sure he could stop smiling.

He bet her he could beat her home and she threatened to kick him in the shin as they ran down the sidewalk.

She was fast, but he caught her anyway, right before they reached her driveway. He hooked an arm around her waist, spinning them around as she let out a joyous screech. “Steven, that’s cheating!”

“How?” He asked breathlessly in her ear.

“I’m not strong enough to pick you up!” Jackie huffed. Breath puffed in white clouds from her mouth and heat radiated off her. Hyde could feel her heart beating from her position tucked in his arms.

“Fine, fine, you win. Happy?” He asked releasing her.

Their panting and footsteps on the gravel was the only thing they could hear as they neared her house. The only light from the dark expanse of the Burkhart mansion came from the soft glow of the pathway lights.

“Parents still not home yet?” Hyde asked even though he knew the answer. He had always found the Burkhart mansion eerie. It reminded him of old haunted houses; dark, big, and empty. He had never seen another human being on this road and even in the summer you couldn’t hear any birds or bugs in the yard. The place seemed almost fake and Hyde couldn’t fathom staying here alone.

Jackie shook her head. She stood silently staring at the door as if it would open by itself and suck her inside, trapping her forever. “Nope, guess they’re staying later than they originally planned.”

She still made no move to open the door.

Hyde wasn’t sure what to do. When Jackie’s parents weren’t home when they were together she would stay in his room with him.

But they weren’t together and Hyde had never been inside Jackie’s house.

Hyde cleared his throat, jarring Jackie out of her daze. “Hey,” He swung his arms back and forth nervously, not sure how she was going to react to his next question. “Can I get a drink before I head out? Running here kind of made my throat dry.”

Jackie physically relaxed and she began rummaging in her bag for her keys. “Yeah, yeah. Definitely.”

The door made an eerie whooshing sound as it opened. It made Hyde like the Forman’s house all that much more. The doors there made squeaks and creaking sounds while being opened, the sound of use and happiness of people who were always welcome. This house always stood empty and dark, the life drained out of it.

There were no lights on and Hyde banged his knee on something almost immediately. His cursing echoed throughout the house, bouncing off unseen walls. Then the lights came on and Hyde became temporarily blind.

“Sorry,” Jackie said from behind him.

As Hyde’s eyes adjusted he realized that the inside of the house was just as empty of things as it was of people. There were a few chairs in the living room that faced the large TV. But no nick-nacksresided on the tables and mantles. The house seemed stripped of homeliness and Hyde realized this was probably why Jackie always stayed with him.

“What do you want to drink?” Jackie asked as they rounded the corner and entered a large, extravagant kitchen. She opened the fridge, which was just as extravagant, and glanced at the contents within. “We got...orange juice, cranberry juice, tea, lemonade. Oh, hey!” She pulled out a bottle of wine and swung it back and forth enticingly. “Huh?”

Hyde remembered the bright white flash, a horn honking, and the feeling of all his bones breaking.

“Umm, nah. I’ll just have water.”

“Never thought Steven Hyde would turn down alcohol.” She joked as she pulled two glasses out and filled them with clear liquid.

“Well, there’s a first for everything.”

A small smile played across Jackie’s face, but it was quickly replaced by a frown. “I guess you gotta go now?” She sounded heart broken and scared. She didn’t want to be in this big house alone.

Hyde didn’t know how to tell her that he wasn’t going anywhere, so he decided on a different approach. “I don’t know, do you want me to go?”

Her cheeks visibly colored and her eyes focused intently on the inside of her glass. She refused to answer his question.

Hyde had never seen her this nervous. He foundit to be absolutely adorable and the grin that spread across his face wouldn’t seem to go away.

Jackie took a deep breath and straightened herself. “Wanna watch TV?” She asked in her usual Jackie perkiness. Her question answered Hyde’s own.

He burst into laughter, heading towards the couch. Jackie’s face, already bright red, became darker.

The couch was strangely comfortable, Hyde had expected it to be just as cold and hard as the rest of the house. Jackie flopped down next to him with the clicker in her hands. “What’cha wanna watch?”

“Doesn’t matter.” Hyde wanted to pull her closer, have her sit on his lap like she used to...or eventually would.

Hyde never went home, it wasn’t even a question after Jackie had fallen asleep on his shoulder, the gentle flow of her breathing rocking Hyde to sleep. He knew that he wouldn’t have been able to sleep in his own room back at the Forman’s without her, not without nightmares.

Before he drifted off, Hyde thought of what Jackie’s parents might do when they found him here in the morning, and he decided he really didn’t care.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you thought :)


	11. Explanations Needed Here

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys are the sweetest. You’re comments and Kudos are greatly appreciated. I know I don’t respond to all of them, and I’m sorry about that. But know that I read them and appreciate all of them :)   
Here’s another chapter as a token of my thanks. I’ve already got the next one done, and I’m really excited for you guys to read it!

Hyde wasn’t sure what time it was, but someone, somewhere was screaming.

He briefly wondered if he was back on the cold, damp road, lying half dead in front of the car that had broken every bone in his body.

But Hyde didn’t feel cold or wet, he felt warm and comfortable, as if he was being hugged by an expensive blanket.

Then he remembered what had happened the previous night and he felt Jackie’s head against his shoulder. His eyes felt glued together, but eventually he peaked them open.

There Pam Berkheart was, in all her morning after glory, pointing and screaming at Jackie and Hyde on the couch.

“Wha–what’s going on?” Jackie mumbled groggily as she slightly lifted her head from its resting place. She rubbed her eyes with closed fists as if she too was struggling to wake up. “Who’s screaming?”

“I think that’s your ma,” Hyde grumbled, burying his head into Jackie’s hair as he tried to desperately drown out the high pitched squealing. “Please, make her stop!”

“Mom!” Jackie cried half-heartily, her voice gravely from sleep. “Stop screaming, it’s five in the morning!”

The screaming stopped, but the hyperventilating began and the loud thump that followed the heavy breathing told Hyde that there was no way he was going back to sleep.

Reluctantly, he peeled his eyes open, glaring at the woman now folded in on herself. “Where’s Jack?” He asked, not really expecting an answer from Pam, but he decided to question her anyway. If this was how her mom reacted to him, how was her father going to act?

“They took both cars.” Jackie answered for her delirious mother. “Come back, the couch is cold and you’re warm!”

“I gotta go.” Hyde stepped over Pam who had stopped hyperventilating and now lay openly weeping on the floor.

“But school’s not for three hours!” Jackie wined, still not bothering to open her eyes as she curled in on herself, trying to stay warm.

“Which is why I gotta go.” Hyde grabbed a fur blanket off the nearby chair and draped it over Jackie. “I gotta take a shower, Jacks.”

“Fine, fine!” Jackie waved him off. “But come back to pick me up for school!” She ordered.

“Sure thing.” He promised, “Um, about your mom?”

“Leave her, she’s so drunk she’ll forget about you as soon as you’re gone.”

Hyde chuckled. “Okay.”

“Don’t forget me!” Jackie called as he closed the door.

“No chance in hell.” Hyde said as he made his way down the street.

No sunlight had made its way into the morning sky as Hyde walked slowly down the damp street. The air was cold, blowing through his coat and into his bones. He wanted to turn around and jump back into the Burkhart house, where Jackie sat with a blanket.

But apparently, he had school, again.

Hyde wasn’t sure if he remembered anything tough to him his entire high school career. But Mrs. Forman wouldn’t call him in a second time. Even if she wanted to, Red would have never allowed it.

Eventually Hyde made it back home, sneaking around the back and down the basement stairs. The door, unusually locked, took him a few seconds to jimmy open.

The air was warm and smelled strongly of its customary mix of incense and weed. The sudden change in temperature sent a shiver down Hyde’s spine.

He closed the door as quietly as possible, peaking his head into his room to discover that there was no possible way for him to be able to go back to bed. With a disappointed groan, Hyde made his way upstairs to the shower.

Going back to school, he decided, was not going to be fun.

* * *

“So you know how I said that my mom would forget about you?” Jackie broke the awkward silence that hovered between her and Hyde as they drove to school in her dad’s car.

“Yeah?” Hyde responded, turning right.

“Well, she didn’t.”

“Gee, Jacks, I never would have guessed. I thought her screaming ‘he’s back’ over and over again was just a part of her morning routine.”

When Hyde had returned to the Burkhart mansion after showering and changing his clothes he had discovered that one of Pam Burkhart’s favorite morning activities was standing on the porch in nothing but a kimono, sipping a mimosa.

She very much looked like she had been out all night, her hair was unkept and her makeup had not yet been wiped off her face. Hyde wondered if she ever didn’t wear makeup. Very possible with how insecure she seamed.

Upon seeing Hyde approach her gate she had squinted in his direction as if she couldn’t quite make out if he was a person or a garden statue. As he neared, realization slowly dawned on her and she promptly dropped her drink to the ground, where it shattered ominously.

She immediately started screaming again, proclaiming loudly to the whole yard that Hyde was back, or more accurately “the matted haired poor child who was in our house, he’s back!”

She began yelling for her husband, who must have come home after Hyde had left. “He’s back!” She kept screaming, a sound that made Hyde’s ears bleed and eyes water.

Jackie had ran out to hush her mother, her hair only half done and makeup not placed on her face, which Hyde preferred.

“Mom stop screaming, he’s a friend! Stop!”

Eventually, Jackie had convinced her mother that Hyde was a figment of her imagination and that Pam was suffering from a lack of sleep. Telling her there was no point in getting her father outside for nothing.

“Sorry about her.” Jackie sighed dejectedly, starring into her lap. “She can be...a lot, I just wasn’t expecting her to come home alone, drunk and screaming. And I definitely, definitely wasn’t expecting her to keep drinking and screaming.” The watery sigh that came from her lips broke Hyde’s heart.

“Hey,” He reaches across the space between them and gently took her hand, removing it from her other hand’s blood draining grip. “Don’t apologists for her, you didn’t do anything wrong.”

She seemed not to have heard him, her hand gripped his as hard as she had her own. “I shouldn’t have let you stay so long, I knew how she gets and when she’s gone all night she’s so much worse. I’m sorry I couldn’t control her. She’s just so...so....her!”

“Jackie!” Hyde shook her hand, trying to jar her out of her spiral. “Jackie, stop, it’s fine.” He debated whether or not to pull over and calm her down, but they were too close to the school and she would kill him if he caused a scene.

He whipped the car into the parking lot and pulled haphazardly into an empty space.

Jackie had seemed to calm down and she released his hand as he turned off the the ignition. “You okay?” He asked, just to make sure.

“Yeah, yeah,” She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly with her eyes closed. “She just makes me so mad.”

“I get it, man.” Hyde sighed. “Parents are supposed to be the ones telling us to behave in front of people, not—“

Hyde’s door was suddenly wrenched open, cold air hit him like a ton of bricks and suddenly Hyde was face to face with Kelso.

“What the hell you doing, Hyde!” Hyde assumed that Kelso was trying to be tough and brooding as he asked that question, but it came out more like a child who was refused a lollipop.

“What are you doing with my girl, Hyde?” Kelso asked again, glancing down at their intertwined hands. Hyde gently let go of Jackie’s hand, his forming into a fist.

“She asked me to take her to school when I dropped her off last night since her parents weren’t going to be back.” Hyde lied through clenched teeth as he pushed Kelso out of the car. “Can you back off?”

“You better not be making a move!” Kelso pointed at Jackie who had just gotten out on the opposite side. She made a face at him. “That’s my girl.”

“I’m not your anything, Micheal!” Jackie hissed. She turned haughtily and stomped into the school. Kelso rolled his eyes, a grin flashing on his face.

“She’s still into me.” He nodded to himself, as if that proved him correct.

“Dude, give up.” Hyde tried not to sound so disgusted, but he doubted it came out anyway but. He smacked Kelso on the back, maybe a bit harder than necessary, before following Jackie into the school.

* * *

“So, Hyde, you in?” Eric asked, sitting next to him at the lunch table.

“For what?” Hyde bit into a questionable sloppy joe sandwich, half the meat slid out and plopped disgustingly onto his tray.

“We’re gonna try our fakes tonight.” Kelso whispered across the table excitedly, the morning’s confrontation long forgotten.

“No one’s going to let you into a bar.” Donna scoffed as she slid into the seat next to Eric. “You all look like you’re twelve.” She paused, giving Hyde a once over. “Well, most of you look twelve.”

“You kidding?” Eric dropped his fork onto his plate and put a hand to his chin, rubbing thoughtfully. “I could grow a beard anytime I wanted.”

“I’m sure you could,” Donna laughed as she gave her boyfriend a pat on the back.

“So, Hyde, you are in, yes?” Fez demanded.

Hyde grimaced. He thought about saying no, in fact, he doubted he would ever drink again. The sound of his own bones breaking was still very prominent in his mind.

But 1977 Hyde would never turn down a drink, ever. So he bit back a snarky comment and simply shrugged. “Sure, why the hell not?”

Kelso and Fez cheered, giving each other high fives, Donna rolled her eyes, exasperation evident, and Forman frowned.

He looked at Hyde, as if he, too, had mastered the all about Hyde game and knew a fake had joined the ranks.

After lunch Eric dragged Hyde back into a secluded corner of the hall, out of anyone’s range of hearing.

“What’s up with you?” Forman asked, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

“What do you mean, man?” Hyde tried to act nonchalant, but inside he was freaking out. “Dude, what’s up with you?” He retorted, “You dragged me over here to this corner, if we stay here much longer people are gonna talk, Forman.”

“I’m not fooling around, Hyde!” Eric’s became more controlling. “What’s going on? You don’t want to hang out with us, you show up at random places without telling anyone, is everything okay?”

Hyde couldn’t look him in the eyes.

How could you tell your best friend that he would cause the death of Jackie in the future, that your best friend wasn’t your best friend anymore, because he hated you for what you did.

Eric sighed, as if he was an old father trying to give advice to his son. He pressed two fingers between his eyes. “Hyde, you know I’m here for you, right?”

Hyde stared down at the ground.

“I’m gonna want to help you out, man.” He gave Hyde a pat on the shoulder. “It doesn’t matter what happens, I’m gonna be there.”

It made Hyde want to punch a wall and declare loudly, “but you did leave me!” Instead he gritted his teeth and stuffed his hands into his own pockets.

“Man, I know something’s going on! Dude I have been your friend forever, I know when you’re beating yourself up about something! So just tell me.”

“Do you ever wish you could go back in time?”

The question slipped out of Hyde’s mouth before he could stop it. But Hyde immediately felt weight lift from his shoulders as he asked.

Forman leaned against the wall, his face contorted as if he was actually taking what Hyde asked into consideration. “Like, what do you mean?”

“Did you ever do something, something that you didn’t want to do. Did you ever wish you could go back in time and do it right?”

“Give me an example.”

“Let’s say,” Hyde’s hands clenched in his pockets. “I hurt someone, someone who you had grown close to...”

“Donna?” Forman asked, confused.

Hyde shook his head, “No, not her. Someone else. And you got mad, punched me in the face, and told me you never wanted to see me again.” His throat ached as he said it, the memory forming in his mind of the day Eric, his only constant in life, left him.

“I wouldn’t do that.”

“But what if you did?”

“I wouldn’t.”

“But you did!” Hyde cried. Maybe he shouldn’t have told him, because that small weight that was lifted came crashing back down with twice the force. “You did, Forman! That’s exactly what you did! And I know it’s not your fault, it’s mine! You had a right to be angry. But every time I look at you all I see is how angry and hateful you are!”

Hyde bolted.

He had never remembered running away from a challenge, or running away in general. But he couldn’t look Eric in the eyes without seeing all of the pain he would cause.

* * *

He was waiting for Jackie when she left the school that afternoon. He leaned against her car as nonchalantly as he could. The door was locked and he didn’t have the keys.

“How long have you been waiting?” She asked, tossing them over the top of the car into his awaiting hands.

“Forever.” He joked. What she didn’t know was that it had felt like forever. He hadn’t seen her since they parted at the door and she said she’d meet him back at the car. It was killing him. “However, I did get some nice looks at Tracy Wagner and David Krag making out in her car.”

“Ewww, I’m sorry.”

Hyde shrugged.

“Okay, here’s the plan.” Jackie came around to the driver side of the car where Hyde still leaned. “I have cheer till five. Donna told me that you guys were going to go try to get into a bar downtown. So, come back here at five with the car and I can drop you off at the bar. Sound good?”

Hyde frowned. “Jackie, I can walk.” She has cheer? He had forgotten about that. He was wanting to hang out with her for as long as he could before having to meet back up with the guys.

“Steven, it’s cold out here. You’re driving, just drop me off at the field before you go.”

“Yes, dear.” Hyde gave a mock bow as he opened the door and Jackie promptly slid in, emitting a giggle as she smacked him in the arm.

“Stop bowing.” She ordered.

“Of course, dear.” The smile on his face couldn’t be more clear as he obeyed her command.

Jackie was right, it was cold. Hyde slammed the door quickly as he rushed to the house. He would have been miserable if he walked home. The wind had picked up considerably since that morning and Hyde wondered if it was going to storm.

He was going to make a sandwich for himself and one for Jackie too. He remembered she would get really hungry after practice, but wouldn’t ever ask to eat something with her cheer squad right outside the window. She wouldn’t even tell him she was hungry, the only thing to alert him of her empty stomach was the growl it emitted when it felt it had been ignored for far too long.

When he walked into the kitchen, his good mood instantly evaporated.

Eric sat at the kitchen table, looking all too much like his father about to deliver a kick in the ass.

“Hyde,” He said sternly. “We need to talk.”


	12. Unaccounted for Surprises

_We need to talk_.

Those four words sent a shock of fear through Hyde’s entire body.

He debated whether or not it was too late to retreat, to turn and run for his life. He decided against it, however, when he saw the look in Forman’s eyes.

Eric wasn’t very athletic, but he was quick. He had to be in order to steer clear of Red’s foot. Hyde knew Forman would catch him eventually.

“There’s nothing to talk about, Forman.” Hyde pulled himself from his paralysis, heading for the fridge.

“Really?” Eric got up from his seat to follow him, looming over the refrigerator door. “‘Cause earlier today you seemed pretty upset over something I’m still not entirely sure I’ve ever done.”

“Just forget it, Forman,” Hyde shut the fridge door a bit harder than he intended. “Just didn’t sleep well last night, had a moment.”

“Yeah, where were you last night? You never came home after you...dropped...Jackie...off. Hyde! No!”

“What?” Hyde layered ingredients onto the two sandwiches he was preparing.

“You didn’t...’cause if you did...” Eric made a choking sound mixed with a strange noise Hyde had never heard before.

“Forman, would you cool it? Nothing happened, okay? Besides,” Hyde paused, pointing an accusing finger in Eric’s face. “What does it matter if I did?”

“Cause she’s the devil spawn!” Eric cried.

“Don’t call her that, you’ll regret it.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means,” Hyde flopped down into a chair at the table and eagerly bit into the sandwich he had made. “Just forget about what happened earlier today.”

Forman reaches for the other sandwich and Hyde slapped his hand away. “That’s Jackie’s.” He reprimanded around a mouthful of sandwich.

“That!” Eric gestured to all of Hyde. “That’s not right! When did you start saving food for Jackie?”

Swallowing, Hyde sighed. “Forman, I am so sick of the disgust I get whenever I talk about this with somebody.”

“Okay, okay, fine.” Eric waves a hand through the air as if wiping a chalkboard. “Just start from the beginning. Why were you mad at me?”

“I can’t tell you that.” He reached for his sandwich to stuff into his mouth and avoid the conversation, but Eric pulled it away from him, out of his reach. Hyde didn’t feel like fighting him for it so he let his hand drop to the table.

“Why can’t you tell me?”

“I don’t know, it might mess things up.”

“What things, Hyde?”

“I can’t tell you!”

Eric wiped a hand down his face. “Shit, Hyde, is this something illegal?”

“No! It’s not illegal!”

Eric didn’t respond for a while. During the argument, their voices had gotten extremely loud, but now, the silence between them grew deafening. The only sound was Eric’s foot tapping spastically on the floor as he stood leaning against the table.

“Hyde, you can tell me.” Eric’s voice was soft as he spoke, as if all fight had left him in a single moment. “I am your friend and I will be your friend, no matter what you do.”

“What if I killed someone?” Hyde couldn’t help it. Eric had told him twice now that he would be his friend no matter what and every time he did, Hyde got angry.

But it wasn’t Eric’s fault, it was Hyde’s, and he knew it was his fault, but the anger was still there no matter how many times he told himself that. It burned white hot in his skull, like a furnace that never seemed to die out.

“W-What?” Eric sputtered. “Did you?”

“Not yet.”

“What does that mean? Are you going to?”

“Not intentionality.”

“Okay, enough, Hyde.” Eric ran a hand down his face. He was pacing back and forth frantically. “You’re being cryptic a-and vague! Man, you’re scaring me.” He stopped, directly in front of Hyde and leaned over his chair. “You need to tell me what’s going on with you. _Now_!”

Hyde heaved a heavy sigh, burying his hands in his hair and leaning on the table. He stared daggers at his half eaten sandwich, trying to work up the courage to tell Eric everything and still wondering if he could somehow get out of it.

Good job, Hyde. He berated himself. You haven’t even been in the past a week and you’ve already failed miserably. You’re worse than that McFly kid from that movie!

Then again, even the McFly kid had someone who knew his secret and could help him, Hyde had no one.

Well, maybe not no one.

“Look, Forman. I’m gonna tell you something that might blow your mind...or commit me.”

Eric remained silent, starring at Hyde as he talked.

“Have you ever wanted to travel back in time? Fix a mistake that you made?”

“I guess so.”

“Well, that happened.”

“What do you mean ‘that happened?’ You’re not saying you—“

“Yeah, Forman, I’m from the future.”

“Like Star Trek level time travel?”

Hyde nodded.

“How high are you right now?”

“I’m not joking.” Hyde met Eric’s eyes. “I’ve lived this day before. I lived yesterday before, and tomorrow I’ve lived before. The next ten years I’ve lived.”

“Hyde, sorry, man, I don’t believe you. I mean, how could I? Sure, the idea of it is cool and if this is some elaborate prank you and Kelso and Fez are pulling, well then jokes on me.”

“No, Forman, I’m serious.”

“Make fun of the guy who likes time travel.” Eric feigned laughter. “Hilarious.”

“Look.” Hyde pulled out the notepad he had scribbled on Saturday from his pocket, throwing it down on the table.

Eric sat down and picked up the pad, examining it closely. “This is just a list of things that happened yesterday.”

“I wrote them before they happened.”

Eric frowned at Hyde skeptically.

“Alright, alright. I hear myself. Give me the paper.” Hyde took the pad back.

“If you’re from the future, tell me something that’ll happen. Like...do we get in the bar tonight?”

“Forman, this all happened ten long, hellish years ago. I don’t remember what happens, I barely remembered that I got arrested Saturday.”

“So you knew you would get arrested,” Eric tapped the pad of paper in Hyde’s hand. “but you still got arrested? Why didn’t you, I don’t know, not get arrested?”

“Man, I tried that! But instead of getting arrested for possession, I got arrested for trespassing. I guess some things can’t be changed.”

A horrible thought entered Hyde’s mind. What if he was reliving his life in vain. What if he tried so hard to save Jackie only to find out that she would die a different way.

He shook his head, clearing the depressing thought from it. He had to stop thinking like that.

“You wouldn’t get caught holding, you’re too smart for that.”

“It wasn’t my stuff, it was Jackie’s.”

“Okay, Hyde, seriously.”

“I am serious. I was mean to her, told her I wasn’t going to hang out with her and she bought it. We got into a fight and she got caught with it. I took the blame and I ended up in jail. That’s what originally happened.”

“Hyde, I still don’t thi—“

“Okay, give me a minute.”

Hyde thought furiously. Trying to remember this day ten years ago. They had tried to sneak into multiple bars in their time and Hyde was struggling to think of the first time he used a fake ID at one.

“What bar are we hitting tonight?” Hyde asked.

“I don’t know, probably that really sketchy one on Cornwall, why? What does that have to do with this?”

Hyde ignored his question. Cornwall street had that pub that went out of business because the owner didn’t have a liquor license, but they had went there. They had got in and met...

Hyde groaned. “Okay. I know what happens tonight.”

“You do?”

“Yeah, I do. And I’m gonna hate it.”

“What do you mean? We don’t get in the bar?”

Hyde shook his head. “No, we get in. They don’t even check our fakes.” He promised. “But we see Bud serving. He’s been in town for a while, never contacted me.”

“Bud as in—“

“My scumbag of a stepfather, yeah.”

“Stepfather?” Eric quizzed.

“Yeah, turns out I’m half black, Bud’s not my real dad. My black dad’s rich or whatever. Hit it off real well, haven’t talked to him in a few years though.”

“_What_?”

“Look, Forman.” Hyde slammed a hand onto Eric’s shoulder. “You tell no one about this. No one. This is between you and me. Don’t tell anyone if I’m wrong, don’t tell anyone if I’m right. I just needed someone to talk to about this, like how McFly had Doc or whatever.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“It’s a movie.”

“What movie?”

“Forget it, it won’t be around for eight years.”

“You’re insane!”

“Trust me,” Hyde stood, gathering his plate from the table. “I know.” He placed his dish into the sink and took his half-eaten sandwich and placed it into a bag, tucking it into his jacket pocket.

“Hyde, you’re da—stepdad hasn’t been around for, like, eight years. What makes you think that he’s going to be back at a bar?”

“Because I—“

“Lived it,” Eric waved a hand in front of his face as if trying to erase the stupid question. “Yeah, yeah, whatever.”

Hyde glanced down at his watch, it was hard to believe, but Hyde and Forman had been yapping for about an hour.

“Look, man. I’d love to keep doing this back and fourth thing, really, but I gotta pick Jackie up at five.”

“You what?”

“Forman, can you stop screaming every time I say something?”

“Hyde, for starters, what are you gonna pick her up in?”

“I got her car.” Hyde slid open the sliding door and walked out, keys at the ready.

Eric followed him, stopping dead when he noticed Jackie’s car parked next to the Vista Cruiser. “She let you drive her car? By yourself?”

“Forman, I will tell you everything, and I mean everything, later. But I need you to believe me first.” He got in the car and drove off, leaving one Eric Forman, frozen in shock at the drive way.

* * *

When Hyde got to the football field practice was still going on. He sat watching the cheerleaders throw their comrades into the air as he nibbled on his sandwich. His watch read 4:45. He still had time to kill.

He really didn’t want to be alone with his thoughts. What if’s clogged his mind, threatening to spill over and drown him.

What if this doesn’t work?

What if I mess up again?

What if me loving Jackie gets her killed no matter what?

Could you live with just being her friend?

Hyde decided that, yes, he could. He would only be her friend, nothing more. He could hang out with her as just her friend. Hell, he was basically doing that already.

But can you live with it?

Hyde decided he was sick of the voice in his head. He got out of the car and into the cold air. He needed a distraction, maybe walking to the field and back would be it.

The parking lot for the school sat parallel to the football field. You could easily walk from the school to the field in a matter of minutes. The bleachers blocked the parking lot from seeing what was happening on the field. Hyde leisurely walked around them, slipping through the gate to get onto the field.

Chaos rained. Football practiced in the grass, center of the field. The cheerleaders were on the track yelling out chants and lifts over the constant yelling and whistling of the football team. Cross country ran around the cheerleaders, apparently doing some form of drill.

Hyde checked his watch, 4:55. They had to be done soon.

As if they heard him, the cheer coach clapped her hands as if she were trying to get the attention of three-year-olds. Hyde winced.

The girls all broke off into small groups to stretch and clean up. Jackie spotted Hyde and waved. She stopped at the fence, gesturing for him to come closer. He obliged.

“Hey, what are you doing on the field?” She asked, pulling a water bottle from her bag at her feet. Her cheeks were rosy and her makeup had been removed. She had a dopey grin plastered on her face from the moment she saw him and Hyde suddenly realized that, no, he couldn’t live with just being her friend. Especially when he wanted nothing more than to kiss her.

“Got bored waiting so I thought I’d see what you were up to.” Hyde rested his arms on the fence, leaning over it so that he was eye level with her.

“Huh. Well I’ll be done in a bit. We have just a few things to talk about, so just wait here, okay?”

“Sure.”

She grinned wider, patting his hand, she scampered off to join the rest of the cheer group as they gathered around their leader.

Hyde decided that he was going to make a plan, a plan that would right all the wrongs he had done. He was kind of glad he had Forman, because he was going to need help.

Jackie ran back over, pulling him out of his thoughts. “Okay, we’re good.” She walked around the fence till she reached the gate. “We can go now.”

“You got everything?” Hyde asked as he caught up to her.

“Think so.” She looked at the multiple bags in her hands, rechecking.

“Here,” Hyde took them from her. “Give me these, you take this.” He presses the keys into her palm, easily making the switch as they walked.

“I-I,” She sputtered, looking back and fourth between the keys in her hand and the bags in Hyde’s.

They had reached the car and Hyde separated from her to throw her things into the trunk. He returned to find her still staring at the keys in her hand.

“Thank you.” She squeaked.

Hyde couldn’t help but smile down at her. “Before we head out, eat this.” He presented her with the sandwich he had made for her, wrapped in it’s little bag. It was slightly flattened from sitting in his pocket, but still looked appealing.

Jackie stared at the sandwich, mouth dangling open. Then she moved her eyes up to Hyde’s and his heart lept into his throat. Tears glistening in her eyes and her lips trembled.

“Jackie, what’s wrong?” Hyde asked, fear shot through him. He made her cry! Shit!

She shook her head furiously. “Nothing, Steven. It’s just the nicest thing anyone’s done for me.”

Oh.

Hyde remembered that Jackie had told him once that no one had ever made her a sandwich, or any meal for that matter. When Hyde had mentioned her cook she had shook her head.

“Yeah, he makes stuff for me. But that’s not what I mean.”

“Then what do you mean?”

“I mean no one that loves me has ever made anything for me because they wanted to.”

Hyde never really understood what she meant until now.

“Well, here you go.” Hyde said. Jackie still hadn’t touched the sandwich, she seemed to think that it would disappear the moment she did. She still was looking at him, a small smile on her face and Hyde decided that he’d be okay if she just looked at him like that forever.

Then suddenly he was being wrenched down to her level, and her lips were on his as she kissed him forcefully.

It was over and done with before he could react. He wondered, fleetingly, if it had ever even happened at all, but the blush that spread over Jackie’s cheeks was proof enough. He stared at her, shock very evident on his face.

She snatched the sandwich from his hand and hurriedly jumped into the car. “Come on, lets go.”

The silence was deafening. The only thing to be heard was the rustle of the sandwich bag as Jackie slowly ate her meal. She had asked him once where they were going and he had told her.

He didn’t know what to do. He wasn’t supposed to have kissed Jackie until Red’s barbecue. But she had kissed him.

What he really wanted to do was demand she pull over and kiss him properly, but he wasn’t sure if he should.

The imprint of her lips still burned on his. He had forgotten what it was like to kiss her. His whole body was on fire and butterflies, butterflies, danced in his stomach.

Before he knew it, they were there, pulling into the parking lot, searching for the Vista Cruiser.

The sun was setting, disappearing behind the buildings and trees, throwing everything into shadows.

“There.” Hyde pointed at Eric, who sat leaning against his car in the fading light.

Jackie pulled up next him, throwing the car in park. She waved to Eric, who gave a awkward salute back. She turned to Hyde, pointing a finger at him. Even though it was getting dark he could see her face grow red again. “Don’t do anything stupid. Call me or Donna if you get too tipsy.”

“Tipsy? It’s not wine, Jackie.”

“Fine, drunk as a skunk or whatever. Don’t drive home.”

“Yes, dear.” Hyde promised in his signature fashion, making Jackie’s face light up more.

“Now, get out of my car.”

“Of course, dear.” He couldn’t help but grin as he hopped out of the car, waving a goodbye as she pulled out of the parking lot.

“What is that?” Eric gestured to Hyde’s face, making the smile disappear immediately.

“Nothing, where are the two idiots?”

“In the car,” Eric tapped the roof and the doors opened. Kelso and Fez came out squabbling like they always did.

“Come on, come on!” Kelso bounced like a child. “Let’s go!”

“Yeah,” Eric said, looking pointedly at Hyde. “let’s go.”

* * *

“They didn’t even check our fakes?” Forman sputtered, looking back and fourth between his ID and Hyde.

“And I wasted a whole day thinking up my fake name.” Fez sighed.

“Yeah, sorry, Pez.” Hyde said. If there was one thing he could do without, it was Fez’s stupidity. “Let’s drink.” The thought of alcohol made Hyde’s stomach churn, but with any luck. He wouldn’t have to drink anything.

They all flocked over to where Bud was wiping down the bar. Hyde tensed. He didn’t want to draw attention to the fact that he even knew Bud. He had nothing to say to him that he hadn’t already said, and even after he said it his words never took. What was the point in working himself up again?

“So, fellas,” Bud threw his rag over his shoulder and leaned heavily on the bar. “School let out early?”

Kelso cleared his throat and smiled broadly. “Yeah, we just—“

Eric elbowed him, “Kelso, shut up.”

“No,” Kelso corrected. “No, we’re old. We’re workers. We’re all construction workers. Hey, fellas, see that brick today?” He let out a chuckle, glancing at the rest of the group. “Whoo!”

“Relax, guys.” Bud pulled out a couple of bottlesand handed them out to the group. “It’s Serve a Minor Night at the old Don’t-Have-a-Liquor-License Saloon.”

He walked down the bar, stopping in front of Hyde. “You look familiar, do I know you?”

Hyde shook his head, maybe a little too quickly. “N-no, man. Never seen ya before.” He reached out a hand for him to shake, praying that it wasn’t quivering. “Steven.”

Bud reached across the bar and gave his hand a good shake. “Bud. Are you sure we’ve never met? You’re name’s oddly familiar.”

There was a sound of someone choking and Hyde glanced over to see Forman coughing into his fist.

“Man, I know you’re new at this but at least try and act like you’ve had one before.” Bud said. He turned back to Hyde and gave him a slap on the arm and Hyde tried not, but failed, to flinch. “Why don’t you fellas have a seat?”

They made their way to an open table, all of them flopping into chairs. Eric leaned over to where Hyde was seated next to him. “That’s your Bud?”

“I wouldn’t really call him my Bud, Forman, but yeah.” Hyde had set his drink down, untouched on the table in front of him, the thought of drinking it made his head ache.

“Well why didn’t ya say anything to him?”

“I tried that last time, Forman, and it didn’t work out the way anyone hoped.”

“Right, right. Cause you’re from the future.” Forman presses his head into his hands.

“Do you believe me now?”

“Oddly enough, I’m starting to.”

“Look, I tried to build a relationship with him again. It even worked for a few weeks. But turns out he was only using me to pay rent and he somehow met my mother and they ran off again.”

Hyde felt strangely calm as he explained it. The first time around, he had been angry and bitter at Bud. He had hated him, deeply. And he didn’t admit it to himself until much later that he had always resented him, even when Hyde had thought he had forgiven him. He never let down his guard when Bud entered his life for a second time. He was always prepared for the eventual end. And he was right, but he shouldn’t have been.

He wasn’t angry this time around. He wouldn’t say he forgave Bud, but both his and Hyde’s mother’s abandonment led to him living with the Forman’s. It made him better.

“Wow.”

“Besides, he’s not even my father. What’s the point in me trying to do this whole thing over again when he isn’t even related to me?”

“Fine, man,” Eric took a swig from his bottle. “But you’re telling me everything.”

“Promise, here.” When he knew Kelso and Fez weren’t looking he slid his drink over to Forman. “I’m designated driver.”

“You don’t want a drink?”

“Nah, man, makes me sick to even look at.”

“Man you really do have some explaining to do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Leave me comments, I love hearing from you guys. :)


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter’s a little bit late. I kind of got wrapped up in Netflix’s Outer Banks. (I love this show with all my heart) I kind of forgot to finish this chapter. 
> 
> But, sidebar, if you want to freak out about OBX with me hit up my tumbler (it’s the same username) and I will absolutely rave about how gorgeous Rudy Pankow (JJ) Is for a lifetime! :)

When Hyde and Forman got back to the house, it was late, and they snuck down the basement steps so as not to alert anyone of their presence.

Hyde had been hoping that they would have left the bar at a decent hour, but they stayed until both Fez and Kelso were refused any more alcohol.

Kelso and Fez passed out almost immediately after being thrown in the back seat of Eric’s car, their heads clinked together every time Hyde happened over a bump.

Neither Forman nor Hyde said anything. Hyde didn’t want to say anything with Fez and Kelso within hearing distance, no matter how black out drunk they were.

The silence stretched on until both guys sat in the ratty old couch, staring blankly at the black TV screen.

“Okay, okay, lay it on me.” Eric insisted, he situated himself on the couch as if stealing himself up for Hyde’s story.

And Hyde loaded everything on him. He told him what would happen majorly in the next ten years, ranging from Jackie and Hyde’s first kiss, to when they started dating. Eric blanched at the mention of how close the group had gotten since then.

“And then I blew it. I didn’t marry her, I didn’t go after her. You moved off to Africa, Kelso‘s in Chicago, and Fez.... well I honestly don’t know where the hell he is.”

“I move to Africa?” Eric asked, incredulously.

“Yeah and leave Donna, which messes up your life even more.”

“Hyde...” Eric moved himself to perching on the back of the couch. “This is a lot of information to process, here.” He ran a hand through his hair and down his face. “Let’s just slow down, back up. You’re saying that you and Jackie end up together?”

Hyde nodded.

“And that everything’s pretty much okay until you don’t agree to marry Jackie and I move to Africa?”

Hyde swallowed hard. He hadn’t told him all of it yet. He hadn’t told Forman that Jackie would die. That he caused the falling out between all his friends.That Eric punches him because of it. He just couldn’t bring himself to say the words.“Yeah...yeah.” He stood, walking back and fourth in front of the couch.“Listen, man, you gotta help me. You gotta help me fix this.”

“Hyde, I don’t know how!”

“I need you to help me plan out what to do to fix everything that I broke.”

“I don’t know what you broke, and frankly it’s too late and I’m a little too drunk to wrap my head around it.” He sighed, standing from his perch. “Get some sleep, we’ll figure everything out tomorrow after school.”

“After school.” Hyde whispered. “I forgot I went to school.”

“Yeah, okay, g’night.” Eric froze half way up the stairway, bending down to look at Hyde through the gap between the steps and the wall. “Sleep.” He instructed once more before his steps were cut off by the door.

“Sleep,” Hyde mumbled to himself. “I can sleep.”

Hyde could not sleep.

He tossed and turned, scenario after scenario playing through his brain. What happens if he messes up again? Should he start dressing nicer? He needed to get a hair cut.

_What you need to do,_ He subconsciously scolded himself. _Is get some sleep._

Could he pass his classes the second time around?

_Shut up!_

Hyde glanced at the alarm clock. 4:23 glowed tauntingly from atop his dresser. He groaned, finally deciding to get up anyway.

His bare feet slapped against the cold basement floor as he wandered to the TV, flipping it on and turning the volume down to its lowest degree. He couldn’t understand any of the words, but there was a faint mumbling that helped to drown out his thoughts.

He finally drifted off only to be woken a few hours later to the faint buzz of his alarm.

Hyde hadn’t heard or seen Jackie all day, and it was driving him crazy.

He had road with Forman to school, picking up the two hungover idiots as they went. Jackie’s car was there already when they arrived. He tried looking for her at lunch but the squad had apparently went to the gym to practice a particularly hard stunt. He grew more tense and uneasy as the day wore on.

Eric noticed, but then again, Eric knew. No one else seemed to pay close enough attention to him.

The day passed in a strange, hazy blur. Where Jackie didn’t meet him at her car before practice, or ask him to pick her up again. Uneasiness turned into fear.

He had ruled out the possibility of this all being a hallucination a while ago, but he couldn’t help the prick of terror that ran down his spine as he thought of the possible reasons for her not seeing him.

_Maybe she’s just busy._

_Maybe she wants me to think she’s just busy so she doesn’t have to hang around me._

_I came on too strong! I should have waited till the Veteran’s dinner!_

“Hyde,” Eric snapped his fingers in front of Hyde’s face. “You with me, man? Come on, you wanted me to help you, let’s go.”

Hyde shook his head, clearing his thoughts. They had made it to the basement even though Hyde had no recollection of walking into it. “Yeah.”

“Okay,” Eric grabbed up a pad of paper. “You said that Jackie becomes infatuated with you, right?”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t really matter because I like her back this time.”

“And you said you kissed her on the hood of her car at my Dad’s barbecue?”

“Basically, but Forman,” Hyde shoved his fingers into his hair. “She kissed me yesterday and I don’t know what to do!”

“_What_?”

“That’s why I need your help, everything’s messed up. Now I don’t know what to do. I can’t wait to kiss her in a month.”

Eric didn’t respond. He was frowning at the pad of paper in his hands.

“Plus she hasn’t even looked at me today. I think I blew it.”

“How could you have blown it? Hyde, you have been behaving, strangely, like a perfect gentleman around her. I’ll be honest, it weird from my perspective, but she probably loves it.”

“Then why—“

“She probably had a busy day. She’ll come by later tonight, don’t worry about it.”

“Okay, but now when do I kiss her?”

“I don’t know man, whenever you feel like it? When did you start asking me for advice?”

“Since I destroyed everything.”

Forman sighed, dropping the pad and pencil onto the table. “Hyde, have you ever considered that maybe everything isn’t your fault?”

“What do you mean, Forman?” Hyde flopped onto his chair, his hands tunneled into his hair as he leaned on his knees, staring at the floor.

“I mean, from what you told me, I messed up some stuff, too. So did Kelso, and Fez. Jackie messed up by not giving you enough time to respond. Hyde, you wanted to marry her and she left before you could tell her. It doesn’t simply make everything your fault.”

“Thanks, Forman, but you weren’t there.”

Silence expanded over the room, drowning Hyde in a puddle of his own failure. Finally, he broke the silence. “Kiss her when I feel like it, huh?”

“Yeah, man, but maybe not when the rest of us are around.”

Hyde chuckled. “Sure.”

They discussed plans and different ways of solving problems that could easily be avoided. It was strange to have this much of an in-depth conversation with someone he had hated only a couple of days ago.

“It’s so cool,” Eric mumbled as he jotted down more notes on the pad of paper.

“What is?” Hyde drew a star on the corner of his paper. He couldn’t think of anything to write down. He couldn’t force himself to remember any small details that would have happened day-to-day. He wasn’t good at remembering stuff like that. Besides, all he could focus on was where Jackie was, was she okay, was she hurt?

“That this is happening, you’re from the future!” Eric grinned childishly. “I have had dreams about this.”

“About this,” Hyde gestured to where they were sitting and what they were doing. “specifically?”

“No,” Eric waved his hand. “About time travel in general. I have always wanted to be apart of it. This is amazing!”

“Calm down, Forman.”

“I mean, a part of me is still skeptical. But if this is real—“

Suddenly the basement door opened and Donna, Kelso, and Fez all came crashing down the stairs.

“I don’t see the point of that stupid magazine, Kelso!” Donna said, pointing at the bundle wadded in his fist.

“I wouldn’t expect you to understand, Donna.” Kelso hopped over the couch, landing haphazardly on top of Eric, who moved himself to the arm of the chair.

Fez walked around, sitting himself on Kelso’s left.

Hyde mentally flinched. He’d tried to avoid all three of the people that just came down all week. He had to see them sometimes, to put up appearances or whatnot. But Hyde wasn’t sure he could be friends with them anymore, especially after the incident with Donna.

He hadn’t told Forman that he disliked the only friends he had. He hadn’t told him anything about Jackie’s death or the events after. Hopefully, he wouldn’t ever have to.

“Hello!” Kelso chuckled as he flipped open the Playboy. “She is just my type, _naked_!”

“I, too, like the naked ladies,” Fez leaned over Kelso’s shoulder to get a better look. “They are so...naked.” He giggles as if he had come up with a good joke.

“Yeah, that’s realistic.” Donna said from behind the couch. “I’m gonna change the oil in my car, but first let me take off everything but my cowboy boots!” She did a little dance as she said it and Forman chuckled.

“Well, I mean sure, if you were in bare feet you could slip in the oil. Come on, Donna, safety first.” Eric gave her a playful push as he stood from the couch. He glanced at Hyde before waltzing over to the deep freeze.

Hyde watched silently, waiting for Jackie to barge in also.

“Ten Sure Fire Ways to Pick Up Women.” Kelso read from the page. He laughed, “what kind of loser reads this stuff anyway?”

“Give it.” Fez took the magazine from Kelso’s grip and began reading aloud from the page. “Look deep into her eyes and use her name often to show that this conversation is just for her.”

“Hey, Donna,” he stood from his seat and sidled up next to her by the records. “I think they’re on to something, Donna. What do you think, Donna?”

“Oh God,” Donna pretended to reach for the hem of shirt, fighting with herself as she did. “I’m taking off my shirt, stop it hands! Stop it!” She stopped, giving a small chuckle before turning back to the records.

Fez shot a double thumbs up Kelso’s way and Hyde rolled his eyes. “I’ve gotta get away from you morons.”

Hyde stood, as he passed Forman on his way out of the basement he paused, slapping him on the back.”

“Hide you’re Playboys, man. You’ll thank me.” He whispered before heading up the stairs.

“What’s with him?” He heard Donna ask before shutting the door behind him.

He wasn’t sure how much longer he could take with those clowns. Sure, he and Forman had solved some of the problems between them, but they still had a lot to go though. Plus, Hyde still didn’t feel as close with Donna, Kelso, or Fez as he once did.

He felt like he was watching them through a screen. As though they were a rerun of show he had watched multiple times. He knew how it ended, yet couldn’t do anything to alter it.

“Steven, hunny,” Mrs. Forman laid a plate of brownies on the table in front of everyone. “You haven’t touched your sandwich. Are you alright?”

No, he wasn’t alright. He hadn’t seen Jackie all day long, the thoughts of what could have made her avoid him had been swimming in his head all day. He couldn’t think of anything else. She hadn’t told anyone where she was or what she was doing. Maybe she was injured, or worse, dead.

It made Hyde physically ill and the thought of eating anything made his stomach feel like it was punching itself. Hyde’s mind would drift back to the night he found her body on the floor of her room and he’d have to force himself not to dry heave.

He was sick with worry over Jackie Burkhart.

But he couldn’t tell Mrs. Forman all that without sounding like a lunatic. Even Forman, who knew to some extent what had happened to him, would think he was insane. After all, he had no idea that Jackie would end up dead.

So he shook his head and simply mumbled. “Just not hungry.”

Laurie sneered next to him. “Awww, Steven, are you finally tired of freeloading?”

Hyde had forgotten about Laurie, which shocked him immensely. He thought he would never be able to bury her bitchy attitude in the back of his mind. He didn’t know what became of her. She was probably pregnant or riddled with STD’s, or both. He didn’t miss their back and fourth.

He used to think it was fun. It was almost like he was her brother, too. But somewhere along the line Hyde grew tired of it. Maybe because she seemed to never truly grow up, maybe because she was still mean and awful towards Jackie. Hyde would never know. He never liked Laurie, but there were things he could stand about her.

She was probably a lot like him, he realized, in a desperate need of a rewrite.

“Can it, Laurie.” Mrs, Forman spat.

“All I’m saying,” Laurie whined, gesturing to Red. “is that Daddy works really hard and nothing here is cheap.”

“‘Cept you.” Eric retorted, laughing at his own burn. Hyde didn’t really feel like chiming in. He was feeling something that he never thought he would ever feel towards Laurie Forman, pity.

“Believe me,” Laurie stared murderously at Eric. “I’m not cheap.”

“Fine,” Eric shrugged. “Free, whatever.”

Hyde couldn’t take the torment any longer. He stood, hurriedly cleaning his plate. “I’m sorry, Mrs. F, but I think I’m gonna lay down for a while.”

“Alright, I’ll bring you some warm milk before bed.” She assured.

He nods, thanking her before shooting Forman a look and dashing off.

He hoped Forman got the message. _Don’t let her in the basement. I won’t be there._

Hyde shot down the basement stairs, making a mad dash for his room to grab a jacket. Then he was going to go look for her, he didn’t care how long it took.

_What if she’s dead in a ditch somewhere?_ He thought frantically. _What if she’s hurt and dying and I can’t find her. Oh, God!_

He froze at the bottom of the steps when he saw her. She sat, feet folded under her, on the couch next to Kelso. They both were infatuated with whatever was playing on the screen.

“Jackie, there you are!” Hyde couldn’t help himself as he rushed over and embraced her. “Thank God.”

Jackie responded, although hesitantly, by wrapping her arms around his neck and giving his back a gentle pat.

He pulled away, reaching up and checking her face and arms, counting fingers, pushing her hair behind her ears to get a better look. “Are you okay? Nothing happened? You’re not hurt?” The questions he had been asking himself all day came poring out of him, he couldn’t stop. He almost felt like crying in relief.

Her cheeks grew pink as he asked her questions. Fleetingly, he wondered if she had a fever and reached his hand up to feel her forehead, which made her blush even more. “Steven, I’m okay, I’m okay.” She took his hand gently, removing it from the top of her head. “You’re heart’s beating really fast, are _you_ okay?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Hyde let out a sigh of relief before wrapping her back in a hug. “Yeah, I’m okay now.”

He had forgotten about Kelso, who sat, mouth gaping, on the opposite end of the couch. He hadn’t said anything, probably because his brain had short circuited. Hyde was waiting for it, the inevitable cascade of bullshit that Kelso showered them with. He wanted out of there before Kelso came to his senses.

“Have you ate anything?” Hyde asked, hesitantly moving away from her.

She nodded. “Our chef fixed us dinner. The chicken was kind of dry though.”

Hyde couldn’t help but grin. He found it funny that she complained about her fancy food and how unfit for consumption it was. However, whenever she ate at the Forman’s or The Hub or even when Hyde fixed her stuff she never complained. In fact, she would rave about it.

“Oh and don’t get me started on how mushy the asparagus—“

“What. the. _hell_, Hyde!” Kelso shouted. Jackie’s voice trailed off as both teens turned to look at Kelso, who had regained his mentality, however minimal it may be.

He could feel Jackie physically stiffen. She moved off the couch, standing as Kelso began to freak out.

“You’re hitting on Jackie, man? She’s my girl.”

Hyde gritted his teeth. “She ain’t _yours_, Kelso. The sooner you realize that, the better.”

Kelso scoffed. “I thought we were friends, Hyde. I thought we supported each other and stuck by each other no matter what?”

“Man, you’re sounding like a chick.”

“So, you’re still supposed to have my back.” Kelso whined like a child and Hyde wondered why he ever stayed friends with the asshole.

“Kelso, I don’t want to have your back on this. Hyde spat. “You did a bad thing, deal with it.”

He took Jackie’s hand. She had stood rooted to the spot in between the two boys. Hyde only assumed she was there ready to stop a fight if one were to break out.

If this had been his younger self, Hyde would have definitely gotten in a fight with Kelso. He wasn’t sure if Jackie could have kept him at bay.

She followed him as he grabbed their coats before heading out the door.

“Steven, are you sure you’re okay?” Jackie asked for the third time since they left the basement.

“I’m fine.” He insisted, but Hyde didn’t feel fine. He felt like punching a wall and crying at the same time. He hadn’t let go of Jackie’s hand, it was the only thing the tethered him to reality.

They were walking, Hyde didn’t know where. All that mattered was that he was moving farther and farther away from Michael Kelso.

Hyde’s breath came out in short, white puffs in the cooling September air, but inside he was burning up.

How had he stayed friends with Kelso for so long? How did Hyde turn out to be the bad guy when all was said and done? Kelso broke Jackie long before Hyde did.

_Maybe everything isn’t your fault._ Eric’s words echoed through Hyde’s mind.

_No, it is._ A voice, Hyde’s voice, retorted._You messed up, you caused this. Jackie didn’t get waisted over Kelso, she got waisted because you destroyed her dreams and future. Kelso at least never took away her carrier._

“Ow! Steven, you’re hand’s too tight!” Jackie pulled her hand from Hyde’s grip, which had slowly gotten tighter as his brain ran out of control. Her face scrunched up in pain as she rubbed her hand.

Scratch punching a wall, now he just wanted to cry.

“I’m so sorry!” Hyde blurted. He reached for her hand, checking it over in a desperate attempt to console himself.

_I hurt her I hurt her I hurt her!_

“Steven!” Jackie looked worried, a frown adorned her face, a small crease on her forehead. “Steven, I’m okay, you didn’t hurt me.”

He had said the words out loud, he realized. Had been saying a jumble of words since she pulled away.

“I hurt you, I hurt you. I’m sorry, I’m so so sorry!” He blubbered.

He could feel himself falling apart, breaking down. For some reason he couldn’t stop it. The tears came to the surface, his grip on normalcy and regularity vanished.

He was alone in this parallel world, confused and alone. No one knew what he had been through, what he was trying to prevent.

“The more I try to fix it the more I mess it up.” He choked through tears.

“Steven.” Jackie was staring at him, shocked and unsure. He didn’t mean to freak her out. He never meant to do anything, but he always managed to do something wrong.

He couldn’t stop crying.

_Not crying_, a small, rational voice corrected. _Sobbing_.

Hyde had never been a big crier. Sure, he cried during moments when crying seemed appropriate. But he had never broke down crying over a small reason.

But the past weeks events had hit him like a train. Emotionally drained was not a word Hyde usually used to describe himself, but that’s what he was.

Suddenly Jackie’s arms came up and around him. She pulled him down gently by the arms. He felt himself gripping her coat as his arms encircled her. One of her hands traveled soothingly across his back, combing through his hair. Her other hand stayed around his neck, gripping his shirt just as tightly as he did hers. He buried his face into the crook of her neck and broke down.

His tears soaked the collar of her jacket and his sobs shook his whole body. He could faintly hear Jackie’s soft whispers of consolation as she hugged him just a little bit tighter.

They stood there for a long time, Jackie holding Hyde. A car passed on the road, it’s headlights illuminating the two as it drove by.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do realize that Hyde isn’t a bit out of character, he’s a lot out of character in this fic. But He’s been through some traumatic experiences in his time. He’s gonna be different (and emotionally broken) 
> 
> Anyway, hope this doesn’t make this less appealing or anything. Love you guys! 
> 
> P.S. if you got my Back to the Future reference in the last chapter, here’s a gold star :) ⭐️


	14. Roller Disco Do Da

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, please read the notes at the end of this chapter. They’re very important

It had been two week since Hyde’s break down.

He had wiped the tears from his eyes, Jackie had asked if he was okay, then he walked her home. It became an unspoken agreement between the two of them to not mention it, ever.

Jackie didn’t know the full extent of Hyde’s breakdown, and he wanted it to stay that way.

He didn’t tell Eric about it either, and maybe that was a mistake. But Hyde felt like he had already shoveled so much onto his friend’s shoulders, adding this felt like too much.

He wasn’t any help at remembering what happened day to day.

“I don’t know, Forman!” He had insisted after Eric had asked him for the third time if he remembered anything other than the roller disco tournament. “This stuff happened to me ten years ago and I was drunk for a good part of it.”

Eric had sighed, but had finally eased up on his constant badgering.

Kelso has seamed to have forgotten their last fight. Maybe that was how they had stayed friends so long. It’s easy to ignore problems when one of them forgets there ever was one. It might have worked with them then, but it didn’t now. Kelso acted like his normal, idiotic self, leaving Hyde tofume silently.

He avoided Kelso even more now.

Fez, on the other hand, had fallen back into his usual place as Hyde’s friend. Hyde found it easier to forgive him. Fez had simply left them, and Hyde couldn’t blame him for it.

He had been spending more and more time with Jackie and everyone had started to notice. He could see them side eyeing each other when they were together. He couldn’t care less what they thought or said, but their looks made him want to distance himself further from them. He had to admit, he wasn’t being very subtle with his infatuation of her.

Especially when she had begged him to go roller disco with her and he hadn’t pretended to barf.

“Come on, Steven!” She begged as she clutched his hand while sitting on the arm of the basement’s couch. “Please, I need a partner!”

“Jackie,” Hyde said. “What was the one thing I swore I would never do?”

“Roller disco.” She pouted.

“And what are you asking me to do?”

“Roller disco.”

“Look, I’ll come and support you, but I’m not dancing in roller skates.”

“But who am I gonna take? I gotta win, Steven. I can’t let some spoiled rich girl gain my title!”

“God forbid that happen.” Eric quipped, sarcasm dripping from his words. Jackie shot him a look but he was too far away for her to hit.

“Jackie,” Kelso sidled up to the edge of the couch, leaning over Jackie’s lap as he talked. “I’d be your partner. I’d roller disco with you.”

“Ewww, Michael, no!”

“Why not?”

“Well, first of all you make me sick, second of all, you make me sick, and third of all, you make me sick and any one of these guys would be a better partner than you.” She gestured to Eric and Fez. “Even Fez.”

“Really,” Fez perked up at the mention of his name. “then I am in.”

“No, Fez, I wasn’t serious.”

Fez’s face drooped. “Then I am out.”

Something clicked in Hyde’s brain. “Actually, Jacks, I think you should partner up with Fez.”

“What?” Jackie sent him a glare.

“No, I’m serious.” Hyde sent a look Forman’s way. Eric nodded in recognition. “Fez, show Jackie your moves.”

Fez, eager to impress anyone, stood from his lawn chair and twirled over to the deep freeze. “See,” He insisted. “I am a natural born dancer.”

“Wow, Fez.” Jackie grinned. “I’m impressed.”

“Oh, come on Jackie!” Kelso rolled his eyes and Hyde sent him a dirty look. “Are you really going to pass up this?” He jumped over the back of the couch, knocking against Jackie, who had to balance herself on Hyde in order to stay upright.

Hyde didn’t know what to call Kelso’s dance moves, a wild display of swirling of limbs and hair came close. With a flourish, Kelso spun, hit himself in the eye and fell to the floor. “Ow!” He cried.

Jackie, who had been watching the display with a look of disgust, turned back around to face Fez. “You’ll do it, Fez?”

“Of course!”

Jackie shot Hyde a huge grin. “We are so going to win.”

Hyde was so glad he didn’t agree to roller disco. He hated just sitting in on rehearsals. Jackie constantly wanted his input on everything.

“Jacks, I don’t know anything about this. I can go get Donna, she—“

“Oh,” Jackie waved her hand. “That lumberjack doesn’t know any more than you do. Just tell me if this is impressive?”

Fez lifted her up, spinning her above his head. Hyde had to admit, it was impressive, but it also sent the fear of God though him.

“Yeah, that is impressive. Fez, how can you do that?”

“I told you,” Fez placed his hands on his hips proudly. “I am a natural born dancer, and Jackie is very light.”

“Awww,” Jackie patted Fez’s chest. “Thanks, Fez.”

“Okay,” Hyde hopped off his seat, his butt was numb and his stomach was empty. “I’m hungry. Let’s get food!”

“Where you want to go?”

“I was thinking the fridge but where do you wanna go?”

“Ehh, you two make me sick.” Fez grumbled. “I am gone. Good day!” He took his coat from the rack.”

“But, Fez, I thought we were gonna get foo—“

“I said good day!” Fez called as he slammed the door.

“The Hub?” Hyde asked Jackie.

“Why not?” Jackie picked up her jacket as they headed out.

The temperature had risen in the past couple of weeks. It wasn’t warm, but it wasn’t cold enough for typical Wisconsin winter attire.

“Be honest with me, Steven.” Jackie said as they walked along the sidewalk. “Do you think we’ll win?”

Hyde chuckled. “Oh l, I know you’ll win, Jacks.”

Jackie grinned broadly. “How so?”

Hyde brain stumbled. “Um...’cause you and Fez got some kick ass moves. Guarantee no one is as advanced as you two are.”

“Fair point.” She pulled her jacket around her as they walked through a patch of shade. “But I’m terrified I’ll mess up.”

“Nah, man, you’ll do great.”

“Promise you’ll come?”

“Scouts honor!” Hyde raised his left hand and placed his right on his chest.”

“I think it’s the other way, you dork.” Jackie laughed.

“Hell if I know.” Hyde’s hands dropped back down to his sides. “What time did you say it was?”

“Eight.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Well, tomorrow is Friday, Steven.” Jackie said.

“Shit, Jacks, I don’t think I’m gonna make it.” Hyde joked, a grin giving him away. “I’m gonna have to take back that scout’s honor.”

“Fine,” The smile that lit Jackie’s face transformed into seriousness. “But just to be clear, if you actually miss it, you’re dead.” She raised her right hand, mirroring Hyde, crossing her left hand over her heart. “Scouts honor.”

“Look Forman, it’ll be fine.”

“You didn’t tell me my dad gets sued!” Eric followed Hyde around the basement. “Hyde, this is critical information that should have been told to me! My dad is being sued!”

“Forman.” Hyde picked his jacket up from the arm of the couch. “It’s not a big deal, Red doesn’t get sued.”

“What do you mean he ‘doesn’t get sued?’ I’m holding the court order for tonight in my hand.” Just to prove his point, Eric shook the paper in Hyde’s face.

“Foreman, I know what I’m talking about here, okay? Now I don’t remember the whole logistics of it, I wasn’t there, but Red doesn’t get convicted...or whatever the term is.”

“You sure?”

“Man, I think I would remember if he did. Red would have never stoped grumbling about it.”

“So what do I do?”

“Believe it or not, Forman, but this is my first time time traveling.” Hyde pulled on his jacket. “Now, I gotta go to this Roller disco thing and I gotta leave now or I’ll be late and Jackie will have my ass.”

“Everything’s gonna be fine?”

“Sure, Forman!” Hyde hollered as he slammed the door.

Hyde honestly wasn’t concerned with Red’s suing incident. It had worked itself out and he had somewhere to be.

He raced down the street, running through the directions Jackie had hastily given him.

He hadn’t gotten a ride with Donna and Kelso, for obviousreasons. He wasn’t going to let Donna give him looks in the rear view mirror of Kelso’s van, and he definitely wasn’t going to listen to Kelso rant about Fez and Jackie dancing together.

He dashed around a corner, coming to a halt in front of the Point Place Roller Skating Rink. He could hear the disco music reverberating off the walls and through the slightly open door.

He walked in, handing the girl at the counter money to pay for a ticket. She looked bored as she handed him his change, ripping off his ticket and presenting it to him.

He took it as he mumbled a hurried, “thanks.” Before maneuvering around people, reaching Donna and Kelso just in time.

“Finally.” Donna said, patting the empty seat beside her. “I think Jackie and Fez are next.”

As if on cue, the pair of skaters out on the rink finished their dance, waving as they rolled off.

“Look, there they are!” Donna cried, gripping Kelso’s arm in excitement.

“Hey!” Kelso stood up from his seat. “The next contestants are cheaters! The brown guy’s a robot!”

Hyde glared at him as Donna yanked him back into his seat. “Robot? Shut up!” She insisted, focusing back on Jackie and Fez.

“And, now, ladies and gentlemen,” An announcer spoke over the speaker as Jackie and Fez rolled into the center of the rink. “please welcome to the rink our last contestant of the evening. From Point Place, Wisconsin it’s Jackie Burkhart and....”

there was a long pause as the man tried desperately to figure out how to pronounce Fez’s real name. “Uh, Jackie Burkhart’s partner.” He finally decided.

Kelso cupped his hands around his mouth, making his booing louder.

Donna ripped his hands from his mouth. Hyde wanted to punch him.

“This is so cool!” Donna said excitedly, glancing between Kelso and Hyde wanting someone to agree with her.

Hyde nodded in agreement, watching as Jackie and Fez began dancing. “Oh my God, they’re amazing!” Donna clapped, cheering her friends on.

“Did you see that?” Kelso demanded, pointing to the rink. “Fez just tripped.”

“No he didn’t.” Donna argued.

Kelso ignored her, standing up and yelling. “The foreign guy tripped. That’s a deduction right there!”

Hyde had had enough. He stood, reaching over Donna to smack Kelso upside the head. It was in no way as hard as he would have liked to hit him, but it effectively made Kelso stop screaming.

“Ow! Hyde what was that for?”

“Shut the hell up, Kelso.” Hyde growled, rage bubbling in his stomach. “Sit down.”

Donna yanked him into his seat before anything more was said. Kelso giving Hyde one last look, pouting like a two-year-old.

Hyde ignored him, focusing back on Jackie and Fez. He had watched the routine several times, but never with their roller skates on. He had to admit, it still made him nervous when Fez lifted her into the air. It made his stomach drop and his throat clench with fear that this time, Fez might drop her.

He didn’t and Hyde exhaled in relief when he set her down again. So much so that he almost didn’t hear the quiet argument Kelso and Donna were having.

“Kelso, it’s one marble.....give me it!”

“No, no, no Donna!” Hyde turned and watched Kelso shove a marble into his mouth, swallowing it.

Man he wanted to kill him.

The duo on the rink ended with a flourish and the crowd exploded. Donna and Hyde stood, clapping and cheering. Kelso stood, still booing.

“Ah, man, they were good.” Kelso admitted, pointing.

“Man, just be luckily you’re on the other side of Donna.” Hyde hissed through clenched teeth.

Donna glanced at him, concern on her face. Though Hyde wasn’t sure exactly who or what for.

Fez and Jackie rolled back out, Jackie waving her hands proudly. She rolled over to Hyde grinning as he scooped her up in a hug.

“You guys did so great!” Donna congratulated.

“Not one mistake.” Hyde agreed, letting Jackie go, though he didn’t want to. She stayed close to him though, her arm touching his.

“I saw plenty of mistakes,” Kelso interjected. “Especially from Fez.”

“You shut your mouth!” Fez interjected, glaring at Kelso.

“Here come the scores.” Jackie shouted, as she reached for Fez’s hand she left Hyde’s side.

“And the winner,” The man over the speakers announced. “Of this year’s Roller Disco Do Da is.....Jackie Burkhart and...friend!”

Jackie screeched, giving Fez a big hug. “We won! She exclaimed. “Fez I am so sorry I doubted you, Steven was right! You are my hero! Thank you!” She gave him another big hug.

Hyde’s stomach, filled with butterflies as he watched Jackie jump around excitedly, a large, genuine grin on her face instantly dropped when he watched a man give Jackie a bottle.

“Champagne!” Jackie said, accepting it gratefully. She shot her grin at Hyde and Donna, waving the bottle. “We are definitely opening this tonight.”

“Yay!” Kelso reaches around her, jumping up and down.

Her smile instantly disappeared. “Get off me!” She pushed him away, gliding across the floor towards Hyde. He stuck out an arm, stopping her from going any farther. “Kelso, you booed us the entire time!” She crosses her arms, giving him a disgusted look.

“Nuh uh!” Kelso whined. “That was some rude guy. So I popped him one...and I hurt my hand—Ow!”

Hyde smacked the back of his head again. “Jackass.” Hyde spit. “Just shut up.”

“Hyde!” Kelso whined.

Hyde ignored him, turning towards Jackie. He rested his hands on her biceps. “Go take the skates off, get your stuff. I’ll meet you at your car, I’ll drive you and Fez home.

“Oh, we are not going home, Steven!” Jackie shook the bottle at Hyde a grin reforming on her face. “We’re going to celebrate.”

“Donna,” Jackie turned towards her. “You’re riding home with us. Michael doesn’t deserve champagne.”

A pit formed in Hyde’s stomach at the thought of Jackie getting drunk. Too drunk. Images of that night flashed through his mind caused terror to flow freely through him.

“You okay?” A hand rested on his shoulder and he whipped his head around to see Donna’s concerned expression. “You kind of zoned out and you got really pale.”

Jackie and Fez had rolled off, Kelso sat on the edge of the stage, a frown evident on his face.

“Yeah” Hyde shook his head. “Yeah, I’m fine, let’s go.”

Hyde became the monitor of the Champaign. He kept track of how many glasses each person had. Jackie was on her second, and he was thinking of cutting her off there. Donna and Fez were on three, but they could hold their liquor, they also hadn’t died because of him.

Hyde had pretended to drink some, acting as if he had been filling his glass. He wanted to be a-hundred-percent sober in case anything happened, besides all he could hear were his bones breaking every time he picked it up.

“I love Champagne!” Jackie cried, reaching for the bottle. Hyde swatted her hands away. “Hey!” She whined.

“Save some for Forman, would ya? He’s coming back soon and if he finds us all drunk without him he’ll be pissed.” Hyde lied.

“Okay,” She sighed, leaning back against the couch. “But in my opinion, Eric wasn’t there, Eric lucked out.” She giggled to herself.

“I’m sure he wouldn’t agree. I’ll grab you a drink when I go upstairs. I’m getting grapes.” He patted her knee, standing from his chair.

“Okay,” Jackie sang.

Hyde pounded up the stairs, quickly making his way to the kitchen. He wanted to be quick, Jackie could easily grab the bottle again.

The sliding door opened as he was washing a bowl of grapes, Eric and Red entering.

“Hey, how’d it go?” Hyde asked as Red continued to walk past him, headed for the living room.

“Anger management!” Red cried, slamming the swinging door open. He sounded disgusted and slightly flabbergasted at the idea of it.

Hyde shot a questioning glance at Eric, who had stopped in the doorway.

“Dude, you were right!” Eric rushed to the counter. “My dad won. He has to go to anger management classes, but other than that....”

Hyde nodded. Anger management would do Red some good. Get him to let go and relax a bit more, maybe it would save him from a heart attack.

“See, man,” Hyde picked up the bowl of washed grapes. “I know stuff. You just gotta wait for it to hit me.” He grabbed two cans of cherry cola from the fridge on his way to the basement, Eric trailing behind him.

“I never said you didn’t know stuff.” Eric argued, reaching for one of the cans in Hyde’s grip.

Hyde ripped them away. “Not for you.” He reprimanded. “The fridge is two feet back in that direction.” He gestured to the basement door as they both walked down the steps.

Forman glanced at the door. “Not worth it,” He decided.

Hyde took the last three steps down the stairs, relief flowing through him when he found Jackie exactly where he left her, the bottle just as full.

She was giggling quietly to herself, only focusing on Hyde when he came around in front of her. “Hi, Steven!” She exclaimed loudly.

“Hi,” Hyde chucked back, handing her the cherry cola. He pulled her up from her chair so that Eric could sit next to Donna, directing her over to his chair. “I brought grapes.” He held the bowl in the air for all to see before setting it on the table in the middle of the room.

“I don’t wanna sit on your chair, your chair’s hard!” Jackie whined.

“Here.” Hyde sat down, pulling Jackie into his lap. “Better?”

Jackie nodded, situating herself so that her head was tucked under Hyde’s chin.

Donna and Fez starred slack jawed at Hyde. Eric, having heard from Hyde how Jackie would usually sit on Hyde’s lap, picked up the bottle of champagne. “Hey, where’d you guys get this?”

“I won!” Jackie shouted, flipping her arms up over her head and almost smacking Hyde.

“Fez was there, too!” Fez exclaimed.

“You mean Fez and I, Jacks.” Hyde muttered into Jackie’s hair. He handed her the pop, motioning for her to sit up more.

“Fez and I.” Jackie corrected herself.

“They gave you guys alcohol?” Eric glanced at Hyde. “And Hyde let you drink it?”

Jackie frowned. “Why couldn’t I drink it? You guys drink it?”

“Yeah, Eric?” Donna asked.

“Um....” Hyde watched Eric’s eye twitch as he tried desperately to latch onto an excuse. “I mean...I want some!” He changed the subject, maybe hoping everyone was tipsy enough to forget his slip up.

“Here.” Hyde passed him a glass. “Fill her up.”

By the time everyone was ready to go home, Jackie had fallen asleep. She snored softly, her breathing lulling Hyde slowly to sleep himself.

“I can take her home.” Donna offered.

“Nah, man,” Hyde waved her off. “You’re drunk, she’s drunk. You guys would have to walk, and that would take too long.” He also didn’t include the fact that many things, deadly things, happened to drunk girls at night. “Just leave her, she can sleep on the couch.”

Donna, too drunk to argue, kissed Eric goodnight and left.

“What you wanna do with her man?” Eric asked, picking up the empty champagne bottle and throwing it into the trash.

“She’s not a stray dog, Forman.” Hyde snapped. “I’ll wake her up, she can sleep on the couch, or I’ll sleep on the couch, it doesn’t matter. Go to bed, ya lightweight.”

Eric chuckled sarcastically but didn’t say anything more, heading up the stairs rather loudly.

Hyde focused back on Jackie, listening to her breath for a little longer.

He could have fallen asleep right there, but it might have resulted in them both tumbling off the chair.

Hyde couldn’t get enough of just her breathing.

Regretfully, he roused her, softly shaking her shoulder. “Jackie, hey Jacks,” He whispered, “you gotta hop up for me. Move to the couch.”

She groaned, rubbing her eyes as she begrudgingly followed his instructions. She flopped onto the couch, pulling her knees to her chest as she tried to restore the lost heat.

Hyde covered her with a blanket, pressing a soft kiss to her temple. Her breathing was already evening out again and Hyde praised himself on not waking her up too much.

“Love you, Jacks.” Hyde whispered, pressing another small kiss to her cheek before heading off to his own bed.

Hyde slept well in his own bed for the first time in a while. With his door slightly propped open, he could hear the small snores Jackie released from time to time. It brought him ease, knowing she was okay, that she was right there.

He fell asleep in a matter of seconds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sure you all have heard, seen, or felt what is happening in the US right now regarding Black Lives Matter. I won’t sugar coat it, it’s disgusting and dehumanizing. 
> 
> Please help in any way you can, donate, sign petitions, spread positivity, love, and the truth. Do not hide in the shadows. Support BLM. This is not political. 
> 
> Below are some sources that can help you support or contribute to the cause:
> 
> Campaign Zero: uses research-based policy solutions to end police brutality  
https://www.joincampaignzero.org
> 
> Unicorn Riot: nonprofit media, dedicated to exposing social, economic, and environmental issues  
https://unicornriot.ninja
> 
> George Floyd Memorial Fund: helps support George Floyd’s family  
https://www.gofundme.com/f/georgefloyd
> 
> Minnesota Freedom Fund: set up to pay criminal bail for anyone who is arrested protesting.   
https://minnesotafreedomfund.org
> 
> Sign the petition: https://act.colorofchange.org/sign/justiceforfloyd_george_floyd_minneapolis/?source=dm_sms_optin_5-26-20
> 
> Every little bit helps.


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